From the Institution of the Regal Government to the Babylonish Captivity

Section I.

SAUL’S ELECTION AS KING — HIS VICTORY OVEK NAHA8H AND THE RENEWED CON-FIRMATION OF HIS KINGDOM SAMUEL’S CHARGE SAUL’S FIRST OFFENCE JONA-THAN’S EXPLOIT AND DEFEAT OF THE PHILISTINES SAUL SENT TO DESTROY THE

AMALEKITES — HIS SECOND OFFENCE, AND REJECTION FROJI THE KINGDOM.

We come now to a crisis in the history of the Jewish people. Previous to this time they had existed as separate families, rather than as one nation. Their unity, so far as they were one, arose from a common relation to Jehovah as their king, and not from any allegiance to one earthly king. They were a religious, rather than a political people. But now they had wickedly rejected God, “who had saved them out of all* their adversities and tribulations,” and had made themselves a king, or rather demanded one at the hands of Samuel. In their pride and unbelief they would not have God to reign over them. Henceforth, therefore, we shall find them like the other nations of the earth, united under one earthly prince, and not so immediately under the care and government of God. They are no longer one, simply as the worshippers of Jehovah, but also as the subjects of a king.

The person whom God had chosen, and directed Samuel to invest with the kingly office, was “Saul the son of Kish,” “a Benjamite, and a mighty man of power.” It appears, in the course of the narrative, that this same person was afterwards freely chosen by the people. The appearance of Saul was striking, and likely to find favour with the mass of the people. “He was a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he, from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.” The earlier years of Saul’s life were spent in the management of his father’s estate. At the time of his introduction to the prophet, he was in the discharge of this duty, searching after the lost property of his father. The search was fruitless, and, as a last resort, Saul determined, at the suggestion of his servant, to enter the city and consult the seer or prophet. “So they went unto the city where the man of God was; and when they were come to the city, behold, Samuel came out against them for to go up to the high place.” It was a feast-day, and the people were waiting until the prophet should come and bless the sacrifice before they should eat. “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.” Before any inquiry, Samuel informs Saul that the stray asses which he sought were found, and then announces to him in these words his selection to the kingly office: “And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee, and on all thy father’s house?” On the morrow, as he was about to depart, and they were come without the city, “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?” This was the outward calling of Saul. But as God, when he calls any one to a particular duty, does so ordinarily both by an inward and outward calling, so it was with this lately anointed king. As he turned away from Samuel “God gave him another heart:” and when he met the company of the prophets, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and Saul also prophesied among them.” This was the inward authentication of the outward call: for the prophet assures him that when these things should come unto him, “then he might know that God was with him.”

Although Saul had thus been anointed king, there was another step necessary, before he could enter fully upon the duties of that office. It was necessary that this divine calling should in some way be manifested to the people. Accordingly Samuel calls another assembly of the people at Mizpeh. He tells them of God’s former care over them, and of their sinful rejection of him, and then proceeds in the use of the lot to point out the tribe, family, and person, whom the Lord had chosen. Saul was thus publicly taken; and when brought among the people, “they gave a shout, and said, God save the king.” Samuel, however, was careful to correct any misapprehensions as to the power of the newly made monarch. He expounded to them the royal rights and prerogatives: “Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord.” Thus the first Hebrew monarch began his reign as a constitutional king, chosen by God, anointed by the prophet, and accepted freely by the people.

There was soon an occasion for Saul’s services. The very danger which had led to the election of a kin<r was now at hand. “jNahash the king of the Ammonites came up and encamped against Jabesh-gilead,” a town lying east of Jordan, and not far from the Sea of Galilee. The only condition on which he would spare them at all, was that he might “thrust out all their right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel.” Such a demand was unendurable, and as all Israel would share in the reproach, “they sent throughout all their coasts for help.” When these messengers came to Gibeah, Saul was at his ordinary labour in the field. But when he heard the “tidings of the men of Jabesh, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, 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, Whosoever 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.” Saul numbered his forces, and sent his promise to the people of Jabesh-gilead that “To-morrow, by the time the sun be hot, ye shall have help.” And on the morrow “Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning-watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day, and scattered them so that two of them were not left together.” This sudden and decisive victory, by the courage and energy of Saul, left no doubt in the minds of any as to his fitness for the kingly office. A demand arose for the punishment of those who had opposed his election; but Saul at once repressed it, and said, “There shall ‘not a man be put to death this day; for to-day the Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel.” Then all the people, with the sanction of Samuel, “went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace-offerings before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.” We may view this transaction as the solemn public renewal, and final establishment, of the kingdom of Saul.

While the people were thus together, Samuel warns them, and their chosen king, against tyranny and impiety. He appeals to them as to his own example while judge. “Behold, here I am: witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed; whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. And they said. Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed us, neither hast thou taken aught of any man’s hand.” He reminds them of the faithfulness of God in raising up for them judges and deliverers in every emergency. He then charges them as to their future conduct: “If ye will fear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord; then shall both ye, and also the king that reigncth over you, continue following the Lord your God. But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers.” To impress upon them this charge, and awaken in them a sense of their sin, in rejecting God and choosing a king, Samuel, by a miracle, calls down thunder and rain.* Startled by this sign of the divine displeasure, the people confess their sin, and cry for mercy; and then he proceeds to comfort them with the assurance of God’s mercy. “Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart; and turn ye not aside: for then should you go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver, for they are vain. For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people. Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he has done for you. But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.”

“Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah.” This marks the beginning of a royal standing army. A step toward that result which they desired, that they might be like all the nations. Saul had now fully taken the reins of government. Samuel appears in the rest of his history, mainly as a prophet. He exercises no longer the functions of a judge.

Those hereditary enemies of Israel, perhaps aware of the change in the Hebrew state, and having lost the remembrance of their overthrow at Mizpeh, began to make new encroachments. Their garrisons already held some of the heights of Israel. And Jonathan, a bold, good man, “smote the Philistines that were in Geba.” This was the signal for a general war. Preparations were made on both sides. “Saul blew the trumpet throughout the land, saying. Let the Hebrews hear, and called the people together to Gilgal.” “And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand,” or more probably three thousand “chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea-shore in multitude: and they came up and pitched in Michmash.” So large an army terrified the Hebrews, and some concealed themselves, some went over to the east of Jordan, but the larger part remained trembling with their king. While

* Among ourselves thunder and rain are far from uncommon at this season of the year. But all modern travellers agree that rain seldom, if ever, falls from June to October, or during the harvest.

in this position, awaiting the coming of Samuel, his army gradually diminishing, Saul committed that sacrilege for which he lost the kingdom. “And Saul said. Bring hither the burntofiering to me, and the peace-offering. And he offered the burnt-offering.” At the end of his offering, Samuel came, and Saul went out to meet him. “And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said. Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou earnest not within the days appointed, therefore said I, the Philistines will come down upon me, and I have not made supplication unto the Lord, I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt-offering. And Samuel said. Thou hast done foolishly: 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.” “And Samuel arose and went unto Gibeah of Benjamin.” Deserted by the prophet, Saul was now abandoned by the people: only six hundred men followed him in his distress. The power of the Philistines was immense, and the Israelites were spoiled of their armour, so that on the day of battle, “there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people, but with Saul and Jonathan his son was there found.”

A deep valley ran between Gebal and Michmash, between the small band of Saul and the host of the Philistines. On its opposite sides there were two sharp rocks or hills, standing out from the walls of the valley, on which the following bold exploit took place. Now, while lying thus near to each other, “it came to pass that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man that bare his armour. Come and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will, work for use: for there is no restraint to the Lord, to save by many or by few.” The result will show that this faith was not in vain. The young man consents: “Behold I am with thee, according to thy heart.” They both reveal themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armour-bearer, and said, “Come up, and we will show you a thing,” meaning that they would punish them for their temerity. But this was the very sign which Jonathan had fixed upon as favourable, and he said unto his armour-bearer, “Come up after me, for the Lord hath delivered them into the hand of Israel.” This bold adventure was the beginning of a most astonishing victory. A mysterious influence seems to have deprived the garrison of all power of resistance and of flight. “They fell before Jonathan to the number of twenty men,” on the very ground on which they stood. A sudden terror falls upon the whole army. “And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people:

the garrison and the spoilers they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was a very great trembling. xlnd Saul’s watchmen looked, and beheld the multitude melted away, and they went on beating down one another.” Seeing this strange spectacle, and finding Jonathan absent from his band, Saul wished to consult the high-priest, “for the ark of God (or the ephod, as some read) was at that time with the children of Israel.” “While Saul talked unto the priest, the noise in the host of the Philistines increased” so rapidly that he could not delay. He stops the priest in the midst of his inquiries, “and all the people that were with him assembled themselves and came to the battle: and behold every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.” The Hebrews that had been with the Philistines in bondage, now turned to fight with their countrymen: and those who had hid themselves in the mount, when they heard that the Philistines fled, “even they also followed hard after them in the battle.” “So the Lord saved Israel that day.” Throughout their whole history we read of few deliverances more remarkable than this: in which the hand of God was more apparent. There was no restraint to the Lord on that day to save by few.

It was not all well, however, with Israel. Their very success led them into a snare and distress. Elated with his victory, and eager in the pursuit of his foes, Saul had foolishly adjured the people, saying, “Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people — though the honey dropped from the comb at their side — tasted any food, for they feared the oath.” In the long pursuit, they became weary and faint: and Jonathan, who heard not the rash curse of his father, “dipped his rod into the honey and ate.” The eagerness of Saul defeated itself. Jonathan alone, who had broken the oath, had strength to follow the enemy, and argues against the imprudence of his father. “If the people had eaten freely to-day of the spoil of the enemy, had there not been now a much greater slaughter among the Philistines?” Nor was this the only bad result of the oath. When evening came, when the people might eat, “they flew upon the spoil, slew them upon the ground, and did eat them with the blood,” directly contrary to the Mosaic law. And it was told Saul, “Behold the people sin against the Lord, in that they eat with the blood.” “And he said, Roll a great stone unto me, and bring me hither every man his ox and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat, and sin not against the Lord in eating with the blood. And Saul built an altar unto the Lord: the same was the first altar that he built unto the Lord.” It seems probable that the very stone upon which the s beasts were slain, was made into an altar, and sacrifices oJBfered before the people were allowed to go any further.

The impatient monarch now proposes an immediate pursuit of the Philistines, but the priest checks his zeal, and counsels him to inquire of God. “And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that day.” God was evidently displeased. Sin was lying somewhere. “And Saul said. Draw ye near hither all ye chief of the people: and know and see wherein this sin hath been this day. For as the Lord liveth, which saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But none of the people were base enough to betray their deliverer. He then resorts to the lot. All Israel stood upon one side, Saul and Jonathan upon the other. And “Saul said unto the Lord God of Israel, Give a perfect lot. And Saul and Jonathan were taken: but the people escaped. And Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken. 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 my 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. Then Saul went up from following the Philistines.” In the whole of this transaction Saul appears as vindictive, rash, and cruel. He looks upon the Philistines not as the enemies of the people of God, but as personal foes. In his eagerness to crush them he involves his own people in severe distress by a rash oath. And then, as if utterly unconscious where the real guilt lay, he purposes the death of his own son, who had ignorantly broken the oath. That God in his providence should single out Jonathan instead of Saul, does not imply that Jonathan was the guilty one; but simply designates him as the person who had incurred Saul’s foolish curse. The people judged rightly that the guilt was contracted by Saul, and therefore they rescued their deliverer from his hands.

Saul now pushes his wars and conquests on every side. Beyond Jordan, and south and east of the Dead Sea, he is victorious over Moab, Ammon, and Edom. Northward he carries his arms against the kings of Zobah. And whithersoever, in the words of the narrative, “he turned himself, he vexed his foes.”

In the full tide of his success, Saul receives a command from the Lord, through the prophet, to “go and smite Amalek, and

Utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman.” Nothing could justify such a war as this, but an express command from God. This Saul had. Some of the reasons for this command we know. This nation had attacked the Israelites in their coming out of Egypt; and for this, among other reasons, God had purposed their destruction. And he has a right to do what he will with his own; and though we now do not know why he should do as he does, yet this we do know, that the judge of all the earth doeth right. Saul proceeds, partially, to execute the command. He gathered the people together, and marched them to a city of Amalek. He then warned the Kenites — the family of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses — to depart from among the Amalekites, lest they should perish with them. “And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah, until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.” He spared the king, but destroyed the people. “But Saul and the people spared the best of the sheep, oxen, and of all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them.” He spared the king because of his rank, he himself being a king. He spared the spoil to increase his riches. In both he broke the divine command. Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying, “It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king,: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments.” In the interview between the prophet and king, Saul appears to have no idea of his guilt. He salutes him with a “Blessed be thou of the Lord; I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” And when Samuel asked “What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears? he replied, The people spared the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God.” Then Samuel uttered the severe rebuke, “Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said unto me this night. When thou vrast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel? and sent thee to utterly destroy the sinners of the Amalekites. Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord.” Saul then claimed that he had obeyed, and throws the blame of a partial disobedience upon the people. “But the people took of the spoil, which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God.” And Samuel uttered that great truth, so often repeated in Scripture, but so seldom learned, “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” “Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.” Saul, startled with this denunciatlon, confessed his sin, and besought Samuel to remain -with him in his intended sacrifice. But Samuel said, “I -will not return with thee,” and as he turned to go away, Saul laid hold upon his mantle and rent it. And Samuel said, “The Lord hath rent the kingdom from thee this day: and the strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.” Then he said, “I have sinned, yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before all Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God.” So Samuel joined him in his sacrifice. The utmost extent of Saul’s repentance, was the fear lest he should be publicly abandoned by the prophet, and then by the people. There was no genuine sorrow for his sin. But he did not feel himself yet so secure in the afi’ections of his people that he could safely lose the influence of the aged prophet, much less openly

array’ himself against it. Hence his assumed humility, and his earnest prayer that Samuel would at least publicly honour him. This sacrifice finished, the prophet sent for the Amalekite king and executed the command of God. As a judge he sentences the king to death; who suffers justly for his cruelties. After this second and flagrant offence, Saul was no longer countenanced by the venerable prophet. “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.”

SECTION II.

ANOINTING OF DAVID — HIS INTRODUCTION TO SAUL — HIS BATTLE WITH GOLIATH, AND VICTORY OVER THE PHILISTINES THE FRIENDSHIP OF DAVID AND JONA-THAN DAVID’S ESCAPE FROM SAUL’S ANGER, AND HIS MARRIAGE — SAUL THREAT-ENS HIS LIFE — DAVID’S FLIGHT TO SAMUEL — HIS RETURN TO JONATHAN, AND FINAL PARTING.

Saul having thus rejected God, having refused to administer the kingdom, under the divine command, and as a king only in a subordinate sense, was now rejected by God. The next step was the choice of his successor — the man who stands pre-eminent among all the Hebrew kings — who walked, as it is testified, “after God’s own heart,” who received and held the kingdom, as only the vicegerent of Jehovah. “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 Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.” To guard himself from the anger and violence of Saul, who had become jealous and suspicious of the prophet, Samuel

•v’as directed to “go and sacrifice at Bethlehem,” “to call Jesse to the sacrifice, and anoint whomsoever the Lord should name.” “And Samuel came to Bethlehem, sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.” When they came, he looked upon the eldest, and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him. But the Lord said unto Samuel, “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” The other sons of Jesse passed before the prophet in succession: “but the Lord had not chosen these.” And Samuel said unto Jesse, “Are here all thy children?” And he said, “There remaineth yet the youngest, and behold, he keepeth the sheep.” And he said, “Send and fetch him;” and he sent and brought him.” “Now 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.” It is doubtful whether David or his brethren at this time understood the meaning of this anointing. It was followed by no practical result: and he was devotedly loyal long after this to Saul. At all events he took no means to bring about the real result to which it pointed. Meantime, however, that Spirit which was given to him, was evidently fitting him for the high trust unto which he had been chosen.

The introduction of David to Saul was brought about by his skill as a minstrel. From his break with the prophet, a change had manifestly passed over the character of Saul. His pride and vain-glory had given place to despondency and gloom, and these had now settled down into the deepest melancholy; this melancholy assumed a fiendish cast, and would seem to have been, from its spasmodic and violent form, not merely the natural working of a disappointed spirit, but of a supernatural power, very much like the possessions in the times of our Lord. To relieve these fits, Saul’s servants proposed that he should “seek out a man who is a cunning iDlayer upon the harp; and it shall come to pass that when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand and thou shalt be well.” The person chosen was the son of Jesse, who is described again “as cunning in playing, a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him.” “And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly, and he became his armour-bearer. And it came to pass when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took a harp and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was Tvell, and the evil

spirit departed from him.” pit r

David next comes before us as a champion of the Israelites against their inveterate foe. The armies of the Israehtes and the Philistines were again encamped upon the opposite sides ot a valley; and again God saves his people by few. /’And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.” His armour corresponded with his size. “And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? Am not I a Philistine, and ye servants of Saul? Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants, but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants. And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day. At this proud challenge, Saul and all Israel were dismayed and greatly afraid. While the armies were in this position, Daad, who had returned from Saul to his father, comes again to his elder brethren in the camp. He came just as the host was going forth to the fight, “and shouted for the battle. For they°had put the battle in array, army against army.” While David talked with his brethren, there came up the champion of Gath, and repeated his defiance; and David heard it. As usual, all Israel fled from before him. David, indignant at the reproach cast upon his people, inquires, “What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel, for who is this uncircumcised Phihstme, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” And they answered, “The king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free m Israel.” These words of David were rehearsed before Saul, and he sent for him. 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. 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.” To make known the ground of his confidence, and to secure the favour of Saul, David relates his adventure while tending his father’s flocks. “There came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb of the flock, and I went out after 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. The Lord that delivered me from their power, will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” Saul then arms David for the encounter; and he assayed to go, but afterwards turns back and lays aside his arms, “for he had not proved them.”

“And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook or valley, 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.” When the Philistine saw his youthful and unarmed opponent, he disdained him, and said, “Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.” Then said David, in the calm courage which faith in God ever gives, “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 hand, and take thine head from thee: and will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, 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 spear and sword; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands.” As they drew on near to each other, David took from his bag a stone and slang it, “and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.” But there was no sword in the hand of David. “Then he ran, and took the sword of the Philistine, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel shouted, and pursued after them unto Gath and Ekron, with a great slaughter.” The victory was complete.

As David went forth against the Philistine, Saul inquires of Abner the captain of the host, “Whose son is this youth?” “And Abner said. As thy soul liveth, 0 king, I cannot tell. And the king said, Inquire thou whose son the stripling is.” And as David returned from the battle, Abner brought him before the monarch with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And Saul said, “Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite.”* David, as we are told, brought the trophy of his victory to Jerusalem; and the sword he left with Ahimelech the priest, as a tribute of thankfulness to Jehovah for the victory. f

* It has been objected to this passage that Saul must have known David. He had played before him, and been chosen as one of his armour-bearers. Why then should lie ask as to his parentage? It is possible that Saul should have forgotten David. He was not permanently fixed at court, and had been absent at the present time. This is the more likely, as David was present with Saul in his frantic moods. And it would certainly be no uncommon tiling, that a king, in the number of his attendants and courtiers, should forget the appearance of a youth just changing into manhood.

t Jerusalem was partially in the hands of the Jebusites, but not so much so as to prevent this triumphal procession from resting there: and Jerusalem is here mentioned, as it soon became pre-eminently the city of David.

TO THE EABTLOis’ISH CAPTIVITY. 801

On his return, he was welcomed by Saul and received into the most intimate friendship by Jonathan. Saul henceforth wished him constantly in his presence. “And the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” This was the beginning of that well-known and unchanging friendship. A covenant was formed between them. And Jonathan, as the highest visible token of his love, stripped himself of the robe and armour that was upon him and gave them to David. From this time the history of Saul merges into that of David. “Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people.” As he came back from his expeditions, or as he marched from city to city with the trophy of that first great victory, he was met and welcomed by the women; and as they played upon their instruments of music, they said, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” “Saul was very wroth, and said. What can he have more but the kingdom?” From that day and forward, David was eyed by Saul only as an enemy. His jealousy took complete possession of him, and knew no bounds. In the moments of his phrenzy, and while David played as at other times, Saul threatens his life. “And Saul cast his javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul.” He did not, however, yet publicly break with him; he could not, probably, dispense with his service. He accordingly retains him still, though simply as one of his captains. David was still gaining by his wisdom and courage in the popular favour. Afraid to attack him openly, Saul basely plots his destruction. He promises his daughter in marriage to David, on the condition that he should be valiant for him; with a concealed hope and design that he should fall by the hands of his foes. When the time came to fulfil his promise, he gave his daughter to another. Learning, however, that his younger daughter was attached to David, he renews the promise; when David modestly states his life and lineage, and his unfitness for such a station as the king’s son-in-law, Saul obviates all objection, by demanding, as the sole condition to marriage, that he should slay an hundred Philistines to avenge the king of his enemies. In thus appealing to David’s known chivalric and patriotic feelings, Saul craftily and meanly sought his ruin. David accepted the condition. “He arose with his men, and went and slew two hundred Philistines,” and brought the proofs of the deed and laid them before the king. “And Saul gave him Michal, his daughter, to wife.” With his wife, David won Saul’s continual enmity. “Then the Philistines came forth again.” In the progress of the war David “behaved himself more -wisely than all the servants of Saul: so that his name was much set by.”

Frustrated in all his previous attempts, the king now changes his policy, and gave positive orders to his son and his servants that David should be slain. But Jonathan told David, saying, “Saul, my father, seeketh to kill thee, now therefore take heed to thyself until the morning. And I will go out and stand beside my father, and commune with him of thee, and what I see I will tell thee.” Jonathan pleads with his father for David, he recounts his great services, his self-denials, and his blameless life; and remonstrates against the sin of thus shedding innocent blood. “And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan; and Saul sware, as the Lord liveth he shall not be slain.” And Jonathan brought David again into the presence of the king. In the war with the Philistines David was again victorious; but with every victory, Saul’s anger increased. He attempts a third time to slay David with his own hand. There was no longer any safety for David at court, and he escaped by night to his own home. Saul’s messengers were in rapid pursuit, and waited only for the morning to slay him. And Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If thou save not thy life to-night, to-morrow thou shalt be slain. So David fled and escaped,* and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt at Naioth.” When Saul heard it, he sent messengers to take David. No sanctuary, however sacred, could now restrain the vindictive king. When the messengers saw the company of the prophets, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, “the Spirit of God came upon them, and they also prophesied.” It happened the same with the second and third band. At last Saul also went to Ramah, and asked for Samuel and David. “And one said, they be at Naioth in Ramah. And he went thither, and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on and prophesied, until he came to Naioth. A whole night and day he lay naked and prostrate before the prophet.” His fierce wrath yielded for a time to the stronger influence and restraint of the Spirit of God.

David in the meantime escaped from Ramah and came to Jonathan, who was yet ignorant of Saul’s purpose, and said to him, “What have I done? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life?” Jonathan could not be persuaded that his fears were well grounded, and said, “God forbid! thou

* It was about this time that David composed the 11th and 59th Psalms. The former seems to be his earliest extant composition, and gives a beautiful [ew of his faith and trust in God, under all these adversities. In the latter, he prays for deliverance, and that the right may be vindicated, and the obstinately wicked punished.

Shalt not die; behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will show it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so.” David then solemnly calls God to witness, and said, “Thy father kuoweth that I have found grace in thy eyes; and he saith. Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death.” The feast of the new-moon was now at hand, when it was customary for David, as a member of the royal family, to sit with the king at meat. David excuses himself to Jonathan, both from fear of Saul’s anger, and that he might go to Bethlehem, and join his own family in their yearly sacrifice. It was agreed upon between these devoted friends, that if David’s absence were noticed, Jonathan should make his excuse to the king. The answer of the king was to test his disposition towards his son-in-law. If he say thus, “It is well, thy servant shall have peace; but if he be very wroth, then be sure that evil is determined by him.” Jonathan then covenants, in the most tender and solemn manner, to show David the purposes of his father, whether good or evil; and David, on his part, enters into an equally solemn covenant, “to show kindness to the house of Jonathan for ever, even when the Lord should have cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth.”

When the feast-day came, David’s seat was empty, and although Saul perceived it, he made no inquiries, for he thought some ceremonial uncleanness had kept him from being present. On the second day, the same vacant seat was noticed, and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, “Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday nor to-day? Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem, to sacrifice there with his family and brethren, therefore he cometh not unto the king’s table. Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse, rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse, to thine own confusion and the confusion of thy mother’s nakedness? For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom: wherefore, now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die. And Jonathan answered Saul his father, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done?” But Saul was now beyond argument. The only reply was to cast a javelin at the empty seat of David. “So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.”

In the morning of the third day, Jonathan went out to the field, to the place agreed upon, where David had concealed himself, after his return from Bethlehem, and in the appointed way told David of the evil designs of his father. And there, alone, was that most touching meeting and parting of these faithful friends. “And David arose out of a place toward the south, 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. And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying. The Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.”

SECTION III.

DAVID’S FLIGHT AND FIRST SOJOURN WITH THE PHILISTINES — HE COMES TO THE CAVE ADULLAM — SAUL KILLS THE PRIESTS — DAVID DELIVERS KEILAH AND IS HUNTED BY SAUL HE SPARES SAUL’S LIFE DEATH OF SAMUEL DAVID’S ADVEN-TURE WITH NABAL — HE SPARES SAUL’S LIFE A SECOND TIME HIS SECOND FLIGHT

TO THE PHILISTINES.

There was no longer any safety for David, while within the reach of Saul’s power. With a few young men he flees hastily to Ahimelech the priest, at Nob, which lay most probably in his course toward the hill country of Judah. The appearance of David, and the small number of his followers, excited the fear of the priest, and he asks the reason of his coming. David feigns that he was sent in haste upon a secret mission by the king. This is the first stain we find upon David’s character. In the severity of his trials, his trust in God and the justice of his cause seems to have failed him for a time; and he fell into prevarication and falsehood, which was attended with a most fatal result. Under the pretence of pressing haste to execute the royal commission, he obtains from the priest the shew-bread and the sword of Goliath. The conversation between David and the priest was overheard by a certain man of the servants of Saul, “who was detained before the Lord that day; and his name was Doeg the Edomite, the chiefest of the herdsman of Saul.”

The pursuit of Saul was so eager that David was compelled to take refuge with his most inveterate foes. “And he fled for fear of Saul, and went to Achish, the king of Gath.” But there was no security here. The servants of Achish remind him that it was this David of whom they sang, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of the king of Gath.” Perplexed and harassed, and driven from one thing to another, he had not yet recovered his faith in God’s promises and providence; and to avoid the present danger, “changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad.” Apparently convinced of his insanity, (though other reasons probably led to the same result,) Achish sends him away.*

Returning from the Philistines, “David came to the cave Adullam,” a large cavern not far from Bethlehem. And when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him. And every one that was in distress, or in debt, or discontented, flocked to him, and he became captain of four hundred men, a band which soon swelled into six hundred. Among these were some of the mighty men who appear so often in the history of David; especially the three mightiest of the thirty, of whom Abishai, the brother of Joab, was chief. It was while David was in this cave, and Bethlehem was garrisoned by the Philistines, that an incident occurred which shows how strong an attachment had already sprung up between David and the chief of his followers. David longed for water from the well of Bethlehem. “And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well, and brought it to David.” He was too generous and conscientious, however, to gratify his appetite at so great a risk. He would not drink thereof, “but poured it out unto the Lord, and said. Be it far from me, 0 Lord, that I should do this; is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it.” It is from such casual events that we learn the peculiar disposition of David, which gave him such popularity and influence among the people.f The first care of David was for his parents. “He brought them to the king of Moab, and said to him. Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth and be with you, till I know what God will do for me. And they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold.”

He was not sufi’eredto remain there long. The prophet Gad warned him to depart and flee into the land of Judah. “And he came into the forest of Hareth,” somewhere in the south of Judah.

The narrative now returns to Saul and his deeds. He abode still at Gibeah. And when he heard that David was discovered, he makes a mournful appeal to the Benjamites, as his own tribe, for assistance and pity. “Then answered Doeg the Edomite, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. And he inquired of the Lord for him, and gave him victuals, and the sword of Goliath.” Saul’s

* It was most probably at this time that David composed that beautiful 34th Psalm — so consoling to the afflicted, and so encouraging to the righteous. Soon after, or at the same time, we must place the 56th Psalm, expressive of his trust in God’s promise.

t We have David’s spiritual experience, while in this cave, recorded for us in the 142d Psalm.

anger was now kindled against the priest, “and lie sent for Aliimelecli, and all the priests at Nob; and they came all of them to the king. And Saul said, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse.” Ahimelech was ignorant that Saul viewed David as an enemy. “Who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king’s son-in-law? Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more.” But Saul would not listen to reason. His purpose was formed. He determined to strike terror into all David’s friends, by one terrible example. Ahimelech and all the priests must die. He gave orders to his footmen that stood about him “to slay the priests of the Lord.” But no native Israelite, much as they feared the king, was ready for such a deed as this. And the king said to Doeg, “Turn thou and fall upon the priests; and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day, fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, besides oxen, and asses, and sheep.” So terrible was the insane wrath of Saul. Nor was this all. In a later allusion we learn that he slew the Gibeonites, who were probably servants of the priests, as the tabernacle was at Gibeon: a deed which afterward brought down upon his descendants a fearful retribution.* Only one of the sons of Ahimelech escaped, and fled to David. “And Abiathar showed David that Saul had slain the priests. And David said, I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father’s house. Abide thou with me, fear not; for he that seeketh thy life seeketh my life; but with me thou shalt be in safeguard.”

While David was in the forest of Ilareth, it was told him that the Philistines were fighting against Keilah. Overcoming all sense of his injuries, he immediately goes to their relief. Although having the Divine authority, some of his men feared to venture upon so bold an undertaking. “Then David inquired of the Lord yet again. And the Lord answered him, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hand. So David and his men went and fought with the Philistines, and brought away the spoil, and smote them with a great slaughter.”

All the patriotism of David produced no effect to relax the savage pursuit of Saul. He leaves him no rest in the place he had delivered; but gathers quickly all the people to go

* To these events we must trace the origin of the 52d Psalm. And probably several others are the expressions of David’s experience at this time; e. g. the 17th, 109lh, 140th, 35th, and 64th.

down to Keilah to besiege David. Hearing of the mischief purposed against him, he asks counsel of God, through the priest. “Then said David, 0 Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? And the Lord said. He will come down. They will deliver thee up.” “Then David and his men arose and departed out of Keilah, and went and abode in the strongholds in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day; but God delivered him not into his hand.” While hunted through this wilderness by Saul, he received a visit from Jonathan, who strengthened his hand in God, and said, “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 they renewed their covenant before the Lord.”

The Ziphites could not be relied on. The power of the monarch was too great, and the fierceness of his wrath in the slaughter of the priests, too recent, for any one with safety to ofi’er protection to David. On every side he met with the basest ingratitude and treachery. The Ziphites went to Saul with the welcome information that David concealed himself with them, and proposed to deliver him into the king’s hand. Saul pronounces a blessing upon them, and bids them “return and search out more thoroughly the lurking places, and then I will go with you.” They return to their land, and Saul and his men followed after them. In the meantime David has escaped and gone farther south, in the wilderness of Maon. Saul pursued after him, and nearly grasped his prey. “For Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men went on the other side of the mountain, and made haste to get away; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them.”* Just as the infuriated monarch was about to lay his hand upon his foe, God interposed for his deliverance. “There came messengers unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; for the Philistines have invaded the land.” Wherefore he returned from pursuing after David; and they called the place, Sela-hammah-lekoth, that is, rock of divisions; because, says the Targum, the heart of the king was divided to go hither and thither. David now went and dwelt in the strongholds of Engedi, west of the Dead Sea.

As soon as the state of his kingdom permitted it, and the king had returned from following his foreign enemies, he enters

*We have on record, in the 54th Psalm, the feelings of David in this trying experience: which should be read in connection with the history, if we would reach any just notion of his faith.

again personally in the search for David. “He chose three thousand men out of all Israel, as a force which could crush every thing which looked like rebellion; and went to seek David and his men, “upon the rocks of the wild goats.” It was here that Saul fell into the power of his foe, and had not David been a man of great piety, who feared God, and the powers ordained of him, there would now have been an end of the strife. “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 seemeth good unto thee. Then David arose and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe, privily. And his heart smote him, and he said unto his men. The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the Lord’s anointed. So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul.”

Saul soon left the cave, and went on his way without any suspicion that he had fallen into the hands of his foe. David also followed, and bowed himself, saying, “My lord the king, wherefore hearest thou men’s words, saying, David seeketh thy hurt?” As a proof against all these reports, and the suspicions of the king’s own heart, he appeals to the fact that he had thus spared his life: and then calls upon God to judge between them. “The Lord judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thy hand.” The magnanimity of David seems to have touched Saul’s better nature, and, for the time, overcame the malicious purpose of his heart. And he said, “Is this thy voice, my son David? Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil, and thou hast showed me this day how that thou hast dealt well with me. Wherefore the Lord reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day. And now, behold, I know well that thou shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hands: 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. And David sware unto Saul;” and Saul, for a time, seems to have ceased from his pursuit.* It is evident from this confession of Saul, that he must already have known that David was the person chosen by God to be his successor; and therefore that he was striving against God. It is equally evident from the Psalm written at this time, that David confidently expected the kingdom. He is not in haste, however. He waits until God’s time. He takes no measures of

* It was at this point in his history, that David, as we are told, composed the 57th and C3d Psalms; which show iiow intensely he suflered,. and how earnest were his longings for the worship and communion of the sanctuary.

his own to secure that result, to which he looked forward. He is never driven, even under the stress of a most unrelenting persecution, to an act of disloyalty.

In this brief moment of peace, the whole nation are called to mourn around the grave of Samuel. “And Samuel died; and all the Israelites were gathered together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah.” A simple notice for the end of so great a man, but one which shows how strong a hold Samuel had upon the heart of the whole nation.

While David was in the wilderness of Paran, he fell in with the shepherds and flocks of Nabal; a man of large wealth, but close and churlish. From the narrative, it appears that David and his men had protected Nabal’s flocks while in the wilderness, and expected as their reward a supply of food. He sent, accordingly, his young men, but Nabal meanly denies their request, and adds insult to his denial. Provoked by this refusal, David arms his men, and in the heat and suddenness of his passion, threatens the whole house of Nabal with utter destruction. While on the way to execute his purpose of vengeance, he is met by Abigail the wife of Nabal; who, by a timely present, and a wise answer, disarms his rage, and averts his revenge. David, now sensible of the unreasonableness and sinfulness of his wrath, thanks God that he had been thus kept from carrying it into execution. He was strongly tempted to take vengeance into his own hand, and nothing but the providence of God had prevented him. But though Nabal thus escaped the wrath of man, he was soon visited for his sin, with the judgment of God.

Not long after the death of her husband, David sent “and communed with Abigail to take her to wife.” In true oriental style the marriage contract is formed. “And she arose with her maidens and went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.” David took also Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they were both his wives. Prior to this, during the flight of David, Saul had taken his daughter, David’s wife, and married her to another; and this may be the reason why David felt himself at liberty to form another marriage. Saul’s policy was to cut David off from any claim to the succession.

What time had passed since David’s first flight from Saul we do not certainly know. Nor can we tell the length of this temporary peace. It does not appe: r, however, to have lasted long. The destruction of David was the ruling desire of Saul, and we soon find him again in his character as a persecutor. The men of Ziph again attempted to betray David into the hands of the king; and Saul eagerly avails himself of their ofi“er. He marched out into the wilderness where David was concealed, and encamped with his men around him. David adopts the bold expedient of going over to the king’s camp with but one attendant. “So David and Abishai came to the people by night.” A deep sleep, evidently more than natural, rested upon the whole band, both king and warriors; so that no one knew of their presence. Abishai said to David, “God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day; now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear, even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time.” But though thus strongly tempted, David stays the hand of his companion, and forbids him “to touch the Lord’s anointed.” Taking the spear and the cruse of water from the head of Saul, they departed, and stood on the top of a hill afar off. And David called again to the king, and appealed to him on the same grounds as before. Then Saul said, “I have sinned: return, my son David; for I will do thee no harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day. I have played the fool, and erred exceedingly. 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.”

Notwithstanding this assurance of Saul, and his present relentings, there was plainly no safety for David in his land. Even in the wilderness he had met only with treachery. Those whom he had delivered had plotted his destruction. Pressed on every side with the savage pursuit of the king, he, at last, as if in despair, forms the unbelieving and desperate resolution of joining the Philistines — the enemies of his God and people. And David said in his heart, “I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing; better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more, in any coast of Israel.” “And he arose and passed over, with the six hundred men that were with him, unto Achish, king of Gath.” It is probable that the Gittites had heard of the rupture between David and Saul; and they no doubt hoped that David would now be as useful a friend as he had before been a dangerous enemy. He was therefore well received, although on a previous occasion he had been distrusted and feared. The break was so complete, that, in their view, there could be no reconciliation; and they therefore welcomed him to their land, and gave him Ziklag for a possession. David remained there a year and four months. During this time he received many additions to his followers; “men of might, and helpers in the war: whose faces were like the faces of lions, and men as swift as the roes on the mountains:” whose names are prominent in the subsequent history of David’s reign. “From day to day they fell to him, to help him, until it was a great host, like the host of God.”

SECTION IV.

DAVID’S WARS AT ZIKLAG — SAUL’S INTERVIEW WITH THE SORCERESS AT ENDOR — HIS DEATH AT GILBOA, AND THE LAMENTATION OF DAVID.

While David was at Ziklag, he engaged in an exterminating warfare with the wandering bands lying south of Judah. “And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive,” lest they should bring tidings to Gath; took the spoil, and returned to the Philistine king. When asked in what direction his incursions were made, David so answers (without telling an absolute falsehood) as to deceive Achish, and led him to believe that he had plundered his own country. The credulous king believed David, saying, “He hath made his people utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.”*

The Scriptures tell us things as they are, they never cover up the defects or sins of kings, or prophets, or apostles. This whole flight of David has its ground (naturally enough to human nature) in a weak faith, and this particular transaction must be viewed as a blot upon his religious character. The wonder would be, however, (did we not know the power of God’s grace,) that he had not fallen more sadly. On every natural principle we should find him acting far otherwise than he did. It was the grace of God only which kept him from utter despair, and from joining the enemies of his people, in truth as well as in form.

New accessions were constantly made to his power, from almost all the tribes of Israel; so that David now occupied the position of an independent prince.

Achish soon required the aid of his new ally. “And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men.” David, without giving a formal consent, replied, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. On the marshalling of the Philistine forces, David joins in with the men of Achish. We know not what David designed to do:

* Though the standard of moral rectitude is immutable, so that the same actions, attended with the same circumstances, are always good or evil; but the standard of morality as it exists in the minds of men varies from time to time. In some ages, the evil of certain immoral acts is not perceived, and the general sentiment and practice are erroneous. In such cases good men fall into the common current, and without scruple perform acts which in a more enlightened age are seen to be wrong. This seems to have been the case in regard to the sin of falsehood. In the early ages of the world, it seems not to have been thought wrong to utter a falsehood to deliver an enemy, or to save life, or to accomplish some great good. It is a good rule, therefore, that the actions of men in one age, as to their criminality, ought not to be judged of as if committed in another age, when the knowledge of the true standard of morals was more perfect.

we may judge, however, from his previous conduct, that he would never be found in arms against his own brethren. More probably he waited until God, in the course of his providence, should make known what course he should pursue. He was spared from the trial of taking the decision into his own hands, by the jealousy of the other Philistine princes. They feared lest, in the battle, he should forsake his new friends and join the ranks of his countrymen. They were wroth with Achish, and persuaded him to send David and his men back to the place he had appointed them. No words of the king of Gath could change the purpose of the other lords. Achish, therefore, called David, and sent him back to Ziklag. On his return, David received still further additions to his forces, and he was soon to need their aid.

The absence of David had not been unnoticed by his foes. The Amalekites had seized the opportunity “and invaded the south and Ziklag, and smitten it and burned it with fire; and had taken the women captives that were therein, and went their way.”

When David and his men reached the city, they found it burned, “and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives; and they lifted up their voice and wept.” And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, “because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons, and for his daughters; but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” “And David called Abiathar the priest, and inquired at the Lord. Shall I pursue this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue; for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.” Obtaining this assurance, he pursued them with the utmost rapidity. Some were too faint to proceed in the chase, and were left behind; while the stronger, amounting to four hundred, still pressed on. At length they fell upon an Egyptian, a servant of the Amalekites, who had been left by his master to die in the wilderness. He engages to bring David to his foes. And when he had brought him down, behold they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating, and drinking, and dancing, because of the spoil they had taken. In the midst of their revelry, David fell upon them and smote them, so that there escaped not a man of them, save those who rode upon the camels and fled. David not only recovered all that had been carried away, but a large spoil which this marauding band had collected from others, fell to his hands. The promise which he had received was more than verified.

On the return of the victors, with their spoil, they were met and welcomed by the two hundred who were unable to follow David in the pursuit. It was proposed by some of these reckless and unprincipled men, “who followed David for the plunder they might get, that those only who had engaged in the battle should share in the spoil. David was just, and said, “Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that Avhicli the Lord hath given us; but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike. And he made this an ordinance in Israel from that day and forward.”

By the customs of that kind of warfare, a large part of the spoil fell to David; which he sent as a present unto “the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying. Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the Lord.” He remembered especially all the places where he had been wont to haunt, and whose kindness he had experienced in former days. There can be no doubt, but that this policy strengthened his hold upon the affections of his brethren of Judah, and opened the way for his return soon after.

While these events were taking place with David, the Philistines were pitched in Shunem, in the plain of Jezreel. “Saul had gathered all Israel together, and pitched in Gilboa. And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. He inquired of the Lord, but received no answer, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets.” He proceeded therefore to seek a woman with a familiar spirit, and inquire of her. Such a one was found at Endor. In the early part of his reign, Saul had put the Divine law against these necromancers into rigid execution. He therefore now went under a disguise to the woman by night, and asked her to bring him up whom he should name. Saul’s religion was mere superstition. He had killed the priests of Jehovah, and sundered himself from his prophets, and was now left to this desperate resort; an aggravation of all his previous sins. The woman objected that her life would be in danger; and Saul sware that no punishment should happen to her. “Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he said. Bring me up Samuel.” “And the woman saw Samuel, and cried with a loud voice: and spake to Saul, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. And the king said unto her. Be not afraid, what sawest thou? And she said, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. And he said, AYhat 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.”* He

* It does not appear from this account, that the woman used any witchcraft. She was taken completely by surprise. The moment that Saul named the prophet, he appears to her. In the clause, “and when the woman saw Samual,” which implies that some time elapsed between the request of the king and the appeartells the prophet of Ms sore distress, and of his desertion by God; and that he had come to him in this emergency, for comfort and instruction. “Then said Samuel, Wherefore dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy?” He reminds him that this distress was come upon him solely in consequence of his own sin; and then proceeds with the awful prophecy of what should still befal him. “Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines; and to-morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the Lord shall also deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.” When the troubled king heard these words, his strength failed him, and he fell straightway all along upon the earth. With this sad message as his only hope, he recurns to his army, and not long after, the decisive battle took place. “The men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and his sons, and slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchi-shua, Saul’s sons.” Saul, wounded and pressed by his foes, calls upon his armour-bearer “to kill him with the sword, lest the uncircumcised should come and thrust him through and abuse him.” When his armour-bearer refused, Saul fell upon his own sword, and died with his sons. The Philistines stripped the fallen king of his armour, “and cut off his head,” and sent it to publish their triumph in the house of their idols, and among the people. “And they put his armour in the house of Ashtaroth, and fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.” The men of Jabesh-gilead, however, grateful for the deliverance which Saul had wrought for them, “went and took the bodies of Saul and his sons, and brought, them to Jabesh, and buried them there; and they fasted seven days.” “So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not; and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit. And the Lord turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.”

On the third day after his return from the pursuit of the Amalekites, David receives intelligence of the sad defeat. A young Amalekite came from the camp of Saul, and told David “that the people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also are fallen and dead; and Saul and Jonathan are dead also.” And David said, “How knowcst thou that Saul and Jonathan be dead?” Looking upon David as the probable heir to the crown, and hoping for a reward, the man professed that he had, at Saul’s request, slain him with his own hand, andance of the vision — the word “when” is inserted by the translators. In the original, the appearance follows immediately upon the request; and no time is left for the practice of her rites.

produced the crown and bracelet as sufficient evidence of the king’s death. “Then David and his men mourned and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the peof)le of the Lord, and for the house of Israel.” And David said unto the young man that told him, “How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thy hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” And he “called one of the young men, and said. Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died.” And David said, “Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the Lord’s anointed. And David lamented over Saul and Jonathan his son.” The generous impulses of his nature found expression in a beautiful and touching lamentation, which has come down to us, as a testimony to his loyaltj’’, to the depth and purity of his friendship for Jonathan, and tQ his thoroughly Hebrew heart, while living in the midst of their bitterest foes.

SECTION V.

DAVID MADE KING AT HEBRON — THE CIVIL WAR BETWEEN DAVID AND ABNER, OK ISH-BOSHETH THE SON OF SAUL — ABNER’S REVOLT AND DEATH — THE MURDER OF ISH-BOSHETH.

After this mourning for Saul, David’s first care was to inquire of the Lord, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah. And the Lord said unto him. Go up. And he said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron.” So David and his men, with their households, went up and dwelt in the cities of Hebron. And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed D/ivid king ever the house of Judah. On learning that the men of Jabesh-gilead had buried Saul, he sent messengers unto them, blessing them for their kindness to the house of Saul, promising to requite this kindness unto them, and calling upon them to strengthen their hands, and be valiant. For though Saul was dead, yet they need not despair, for there was still a king in Judah, who stood ready to protect them.

David, however, did not come to the throne without opposition. A large part of the people, either from policy or from attachment to the house of Saul, arrayed themselves against him. “Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul’s host,” was the mainstay of this opposition. He proclaimed “Ish-bosheth the son of Saul king over Gilead, and over the Ashurites, and Ephraim and Benjamin, and over all Israel. But the house of Judah followed David.” A civil war soon began to rage. Abner gathered the servants of his newly-made king, and came from Mahanaim to Gibeon; threatening the territory of Judah. An army from David, with Joab for its general, came out to meet them; and they sat down the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side.

“While the armies “were in this position, Abner proposed that the question should be decided by twelve men from one army fighting twelve from the other. The challenge was accepted; “the men went from each side, and caught every one his fellow by the head, and thrust his sword in his fellow’s side: so they fell down together.” This was the beginning of a general fight, “and the battle was very sore, and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David.” In the course of the flight, Abner was so keenly pursued by the swift Asahel, Joab’s younger brother, that he was forced to turn about and slay him in self-defence. The pursuit lasted until the sun went down. “And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves after Abner, and stood on the top of an hill. Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?”

“And Joab said. As God liveth, unless thou hadst spoken, surely then in the morning the people had gone up every one from following his brother. So Joab recalled his men with the trumpet.” It seems probable from this reply of Joab, that he was commanded to act only on the defensive: and that the battle would not have taken place, except for the foolish challenge of Abner. Three hundred men perished on the side of the Israelites, while only nineteen, with Asahel, were wanting from the forces of Judah.

With the remnant of his army, Abner recrossed the Jordan, and returned to Mahanaim; and Joab and his men came to Hebron.

“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.” It was not, however, with any great fury, nor does it appear to have been followed with any very disastrous results.

While the war was thus lingering on, a fierce quarrel arose between Ish-bosheth and Abner, which served to decide it. Abner resolved no longer to uphold the house of Saul. To the just reproof of the king, the proud captain replies that he would translate the kingdom “from the house of Saul, and set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah.” He accordingly sends messengers to David, to make the best terms he could, offering to bring all Israel under his authority. David refused to enter into any treaty with him, unless he should first restore to him Michal his wife, whom Saul had taken from him. “And Ish-bosheth sent and took her from her husband; and her husband went with her along weeping behind her to Bahurim;” not far from the territory of Judah. After delivering her to David, Abner conciliates the elders of Israel, assuring them that God had promised, by the hands of David, to deliver his people from the hands of the Philistines, and from all their enemies. He then comes to David, and engages to go and bring all Israel, “who should then acknowledge him their king.

Soon after Abner had departed, Joab came to Hebron, from some incursion, with a great spoil, and they told him, saying, “Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he hath sent him away in peace.” Joab went immediately to the king and remonstrated against letting Abner go away in peace. Thou knowest Abner “that he came to deceive thee, and to know thy going out and thy coming in, and to know all that thou doest. Why is it that thou hast sent him away?” After this rude rebuke of the king, Joab went out from David, called Abner back, and upon pretence of a private conference, took him aside and assassinated him. When David heard it, he said, “I and my kingdom are guiltless before the Lord for ever, from the blood of Abner the son of Ner: let it rest on the head of Joab, and on all his father’s house.” The real cause of this murder was, no doubt, a fear on the part of Joab, lest Abner should supersede him in the king’s favour, and for his great services in bringing over the Israelites, be rewarded with the generalship. The pretended cause was, that Abner had slain his brother Asahel. David not only declared his innocence, but commanded a public mourning to be made for Abner. “And they buried him in Hebron. And the king lifted up his voice and wept, and said. Died Abner as a fool dieth? Thy hands were not bound nor thy feet put into fetters: as a man falleth before wicked men, so fellest thou. And all Israel understood that it was not of the king to slay Abner. And all the people took notice of the king’s mourning, and it pleased them; as whatsoever the king did pleased all the people.” Although David felt himself at that time unable to punish these murderers, he yet leaves them in the hands of a righteous and Almighty God. “The Lord shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness.” The death of Abner did not long retard the course of events. Every day was adding to the power of David. When Saul’s son heard that Abner was dead, his hands were feeble, and all Israel was troubled. The spiritless Ish-bosheth could not long sustain his own cause; and it was evident that David must soon be acknowledged king. Two brothers, “Baanah and Rechab, the sons of Rimmon,” aiming to ‘secure the favour of David, “came to Ish-bosheth at mid-day, and slew him as he lay on his couch, and beheaded him, and brought his head to David at Hebron.” David received the murderers as they deserved. He tells them how he had treated the Amalekite, who professed to have slain Saul, “and how much more when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house, shall he visit them with a like punishment?” Without any delay, he commands them to be slain, “and their hands and feet to be cut off, and hung up over the pool in Hebron. The head of Ish-bosheth, they buried with all honour in the sepulchre of Abner at Hebron.”

SECTION VI.

DAVID MADE KING OVER ALL ISRAEL HE CAPTURES JERUSALEM — DEFEATS THE

PHILISTINES — THE ARK BROUGHT TO JERUSALEM — DAVID COMMANDED NOT TO BUILD THE TEMPLE.

David had now reigned seven years and six months over Judah.* “Then came all the tribes of Israel to David unto Hebron, and spake, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh. Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel; and the Lord said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel. So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord: and they anointed David king over all Israel, according to the word of the Lord by Samuel.” In the book of Chronicles we are told that those who thus came from all the tribes of Israel, to this election of David, “amounted to three hundred and forty thousand men; men of war, that could keep rank, who came with a perfect heart, to make David king, and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king; and they were with David eating and drinking three days, and there was joy in Israel.”

Such was the happy commencement of David’s reign. His army had previously been occupied in the war with Abner; but now that he was crowned king of the whole nation, he determined to signalize his new power by a great exploit. Jerusalem was still in the possession of the Jebusites; a strong fortress in the midst of David’s kingdom. Of this Jebusite town the king determined to possess himself. So confident were the Jebusites in the strength of their position, that they met the demands of David with a message of defiance. “Except thou take away the lame and the blind thou shalt not come in hither;” as though a lame and blind garrison was able to

* There is some difficulty in reconciling the two years of Ish-bosheth’s reign with the seven years and a half of David’s. We must suppose either that five years had passed away before the reign of Ish-bosheth began — which seems more probable — or that David reigned five years at Hebron after the death of Ish-bosheth, and before the taking of Jerusalem.

defend it against every assault. And David said, “Whoever scaleth the wall, and smiteth the Jebusites first, shall be chief and captain.” As usual, Joab was the first to mount the wall, and was accordingly confirmed in his command. “So David took the stronghold of Zion, and called it The city of David.” From this time Jerusalem became the royal residence. David fortified and adorned it. “And David went on and grew great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him.”

It was at this time that the alliance between David and Hiram king of Tyre began. The friendly offices so necessary to the prosperity of both kingdoms were long continued. “And Hiram sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters and masons, and they built David an house. And David perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel.” But he was not left long in quiet, to build palaces or fortify his city. Foreign war was impending. So long as there was civil war in Israel, the Philistines had maintained peace; but when they heard that David was anointed king, they immediately prepared for war. They marched in force “and came and spread themselves in the valley or plain of Rephaim,” south-west from Zion, and separated from it by the valley of Hinnom. David inquired of the Lord, “Whether he should go up to the Philistines.” And the Lord answered, “Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.” “And David came and smote them there, and said. The Lord hath broken in upon mine enemies before me as the breach of waters, and called the name of the place Baal-perazim.” They left their images and gods upon the field of battle, and David took and burned them. This repulse had little effect upon the Philistines. They soon returned, and with an increased force encamped upon the same plain. When David again inquired of the Lord, he was forbidden to go up and attack them. In order to gain a more complete victory, he was commanded “to fetch a compass behind them,” and attack them upon the rear. He was not to make the attack until he should hear the movement “in the tops of the mulberry trees, for then shall the Lord go out before thee to smite the host of the Philistines.” And David did as the Lord commanded him, and smote the Philistines from Geba unto Gazer. And the fame of David went out into all lands, and the Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations.

After this defeat of his enemies, David was at liberty to carry out his intention in regard to Jerusalem. His first care was that the royal city should be honoured with the presence of God. No place had yet been chosen, in which God would fix his dwelling. The ark, with the symbol of the Divine presence, had been carried from place to place, and rested at length for some years at Kirjath-jearim. David now prepared a place for it, in his chosen city; and removed it to its new abode. So important an action was not entered upon without much consideration, and with great solemnity. “And David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand, and consulted with their officers, and said. If it seem good unto you, and that it be of the Lord our God, let us send abroad unto our brethren everywhere that are left in all the land of Israel, and to the priests and Levites, that they may gather themselves to us, and let us bring the ark of God to us. And all the congregation said that they would do so: for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. So all Israel were gathered, and went up to Kirjath-jearim, to bring up thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the Lord of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims.” The ark (contrary to the command that it should be carried only by the sons of Kohath) was placed upon a new cart; and David and all the house of Israel rejoiced before the Lord, as the vast procession moved on. But this joy was turned into mourning. As they came to Nachon’s threshing-floor, the ark was shaken, and Uzzah, who was in charge of it, rashly put forth his hand to hold the ark. “And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God smote him there for his error, or rashness, and there he died by the ark of God. “And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and said. How shall the ark of the Lord come to me? So he brought not the ark home to himself, but carried it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite,” where it remained three months. “And the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all that he had.”

When this signal favour of Providence was made known to the king, he determined again to secure its presence in his capital. But learning wisdom from the previous judgment, he conforms himself, this time, to the method in which alone the ark could be safely moved. Having called the chiefs of the Levites, he exhorts them; “Sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it. For because ye did it not at the first, the Lord our God made a breach upon us; for that we sought him not after the due order.” In obedience to the royal command, the priests and Levites sanctified themselves, for the removing of the ark. Some were to bear the ark upon their shoulders, others were to accompany it as singers and musicians,* while the whole procession was led by the priests “with the sound of the trumpet.” As soon as those who bore the ark began to move,

The song which they sang at different parts of their progress may be found in the 68th Psalm.

“oxen and fatlings were sacrificed.” The king himself, laying aside his royal garments, and clothed with a linen robe, mingled with the Levites in their songs and dances. “So David and the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord “with shouting and joy; and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it;” (the old tabernacle was still at Gibeon;) “and David offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord.” After this he turned and “blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts,” and dismissed them to their homes with royal munificence.

“Then David returned to bless his household.” While the ark was passing into the city, Michal had witnessed David’s public dancing, and despised him in her heart. She looked upon it as degrading to a king, and did not spare her reproaches when she met her husband. David’s reply was just and spirited. “It was before the Lord, which chose me before thy father, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord: therefore will I play before the Lord.” It was but the expression of his religious feelings, the manifestation of his gratitude to Jehovah, to whom he owed his kingdom and his prosperity. And if this rendered him contemptible in the eyes of any, he was ready yet to be more humble than this, and base in his own sight. He was ready to submit to any service however low, or unkingly, if thus he might honour God, and confess his subjection to him.

Having thus brought the ark to its resting-place, and secured the Divine presence — the glorious Shechinah — in the royal city, he appointed the priests and levites to their respective offices, and provided for the more regular and splendid public worship; and then delivered to Asaph the chief singer, and his brethren, this beautiful hymn of praise and thanksgiving:

1. “Give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name; make known his

deeds among the people.

2. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous

works.

3. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the

Lord.

4. Seek the Lord and his strength: seek his face continually.

5. Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and

the judgments of his mouth;

6. 0 je seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Jacob his chosen ones.

7. He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth.

8. Be ye mindful always of his covenant, the word which he commanded

to a thousand generations;

9. Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath

unto Isaac;

10. And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an

everlasting covenant,

11. Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance;

12. When ye were but few, even a few, and strangers in it.

13. And when they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to

another people;

14. He suiFered no man to do them wrong; yea, he reproved kings for

their sakes,

15. Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

16. Sing unto the Lord, all the earth; show forth from day to day his

salvation:

17. Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among

all nations.

18. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be

feared above all gods.

19. For all the gods of the people are idols: but the Lord made the

heavens.

20. Glory and honour are in his presence; strength and gladness are in

his place.

21. Give unto the Lord, ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord

glory and strength.

22. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; bring an offering,

and come before him; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

23. Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it

be not moved.

24. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say,

Among the nations, the Lord reigneth.

25. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof: let the fields rejoice, and all

that is therein.

26. Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the Lord,

because he cometh to judge the earth.

27. 0 give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth

for ever.

28. And say ye. Save us, 0 God of our salvation, and gather us together,

and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise.

29. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for ever and ever. And let all the

people say Amen, and offer praise to Jehovah.”

Henceforth, Jerusalem was not only the royal, but sacred city, “beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth.” There the solemn feasts were celebrated. Thither the tribes constantly repaired; and there God dwelt between the cherubim, and shone forth to bless and save his people.

David now formed the design of building the temple. His pious heart gave him no rest wnile the ark of God dwelt in curtains, and he himself abode in palaces. Moved by the past mercies of God towards him, and finding himself at rest from all his enemies, he said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.” Nathan immediately replied, “Go, do all that is in thy heart: for God is with thee.” He thought the purpose of the king so just and proper that there could be no doubt of the Divine approval. But God had other purposes. That same night “the word of the Lord came unto Nathan: Go tell David, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in. From the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, I have

TO THE BABYLOXISn CAPTIVITY. 323

not dwelt in any house. Neither spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, Why build ye not me an house of cedar? Now, therefore, so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, I took thee from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people Israel: and I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name like unto the name of the great men of the earth. Moreover, I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more, neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more as aforetime. Also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his Father, and he shall be my Son. If he commit iniquity, I will chastise him with the rod of men; but my mercy shall not depart from him as I took it away from him that was before thee. And thine house, and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee; thy throne shall be established for ever.”

As soon as David heard this gracious message from God, he went to the tabernacle, and poured out his grateful soul in the warmest expressions of true devotion.

“Who am I, 0 Lord God? and what is my house that thou hast brought us hitherto? And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, 0 Lord God; but thou hast spoken of thy servant’s house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of men, 0 Lord God? And what can David say more unto thee? for thou. Lord God, knowest thy servant. For thy word’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things. Wherefore thou art great, 0 Lord God; for there is none like unto thee, neither is there any God beside thee. And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people, which thou redeemest from Egypt from the nations and their gods. For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for ever, and thou becamest their God. And now, 0 Lord God, the word that thou hast spoken, concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said. And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying. The Lord of hosts is God over Israel; and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee. For thou, 0 Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house; therefore has thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer before thee. And now, Lord, thou art God, and thy words he true; therefore, now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee; for thou, 0 Lord God, hast spoken it, and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.”*

The whole of this prayer is a beautiful expression of true piety. The deep humility, the devout confidence in God and his promise, which it everywhere breathes, show clearly the power of his religion in the monarch’s heart. It is delightful to see one so great in the eyes of men, thus humbling himself before God, and summing up all his desires in that one simple prayer, which any pious heart will gladly appropriate to itself, “and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.” He who has this, has all things.

SECTION TIL

DAVID’S WARS — THE ORGANIZATION OF THE AEJIY — DAVID’S KINDNESS TO MEPHI-BOSHETH THE WAR WITH THE AMMONITES.

Soon after this, we find David engaged in wars with the surrounding nations. In the concise summary given us, we are not told distinctly from what cause they originated. The first nation against which he turned his arms, was the Philistines, the inveterate enemies of David and Israel. This attack, were there no other reason, was fully justified by their aggressions when he ascended the throne. His victory was complete. “He smote them, and took Metheg-ammah, or Gath, and its cities;” which would seem to have been the most important posts of that people. So effectually were they subdued, that we hear nothing more of their inroads for twenty years afterwards. From an incidental notice (1 Kings ii. 39) it appears that David treated these foes with great kindness, and most probably left one of their native princes as their governor or tributary king.

This was followed quickly by another, more deadly, against the “Moabites. And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; with two lines he measured to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And the Moabites became David’s servants, and brought gifts.” This account seems to imply that a part of the land, which had taken the more active part in the war, was put to the sword, and a larger part, or a “full line,” subjected to tribute. The unusual severity which characterized this war, probably arose

* To perpetuate the remembrance of this great promise, David composed the 2d Psalm — and perhaps also the 45th and llCth.

from a conspiracy on the part of these nations to check and destroy the rising power of David.*

This war was in turn almost immediately followed by another, with a far more powerful king. The occasion of this war was an attempt on the part of Hadadezer king of Zobah, to recover his border, at the river Euphrates. David met and totally routed his forces, took “from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen.” Hadadezer called to his aid the Syrians of Damascus; but they were unable to resist the victorious monarch, who again defeated them with great slaughter. The Hebrew king did not fail to improve his victory. He pressed on into the heart of the country, and garrisoned the captured cities. “And the Lord,” we are told, “preserved David whithersoever he went.” “When it is remembered that the country which the king of Zobah invaded, was a part of the promised land, and as such a part of David’s kingdom, the strict justice of this war cannot be questioned. And besides, we cannot doubt that David, who was accustomed to inquire of Jehovah on all important questions, undertook these Avars under the Divine warrant and permission.

From these wars, the king returned with large spoils. “He received gifts also from Toi king of Hamath,” whom David by his victories had freed from the oppression of Hadadezer. All these, with the silver and the gold taken from other nations, David dedicated to the Lord; bearing in mind the temple which was to be built.

While David was engaged at the north in the war with the Syrians, another enemy threatened his kingdom from the opposite quarter. Regarding this as a favourable opportunity, the Edomites treacherously invaded the country. From the title to the 60th Psalm, it appears that this invasion was made while the war with Syria was still going on. A part, therefore, of the army was despatched through the length of the land to meet this new foe. The battle took place in the valley of Salt, lying south from the Dead Sea, and David’s forces were completely victorious. The enemy suifered great loss; and their cities were compelled to receive Hebrew garrisons. “Joab was left in the land of Edom, subduing the laud, and burying the dead. He remained in the country six months, with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom.” The expressions “all Israel” and “every male” in this brief account, explain each other. In both cases we can understand only those who were in arms. Were any other reason necessary to convince us, that this was not the war of utter extermination, which some have wished to

* We have no intimation of this in the history; but from the 83d Psalm 4 — 8, it may be fairly inferred.

make it; we should find one all-sufiicient in the fact, that Hebrew garrisons were necessary to keep the land in subjection. What need would there be for garrisons were there none but TTomen and children left in their towns or country?

From the renowned warrior, David passes easily and naturally to the wise and peaceful prince. “He reigned over all Israel and executed judgment and justice, among all his people.” During this interval of peace, he, most probably, completed the systematic organization of the standing army. To relieve the country from the expense attending so large a force, and to make the duty as light as possible, for those who composed the army, he divided them into monthly courses of twenty-four thousand men each. Every course was commanded by one of the chief of the fathers, and every subdivision by its own captain and officers. Each of these bodies were in active service for one month in the year, and then returned to their private employments; while the whole were liable to be called into service in any emergency, and constituted a well drilled and effective force, to repel any assault and provide for the national security. Besides this, every tribe had its particular ruler, to whom was committed the administration of civil affairs, and who were responsible to the king alone. Over the crownlands, and royal treasures he appointed twelve officers: “over the treasury; over the store-houses in the fields; over the tillage; over the vineyards; over the wine cellars; over the olive and sycamore trees; over the herds in Sharon and the valleys; over the camels; over the asses; and over the flocks.” Among the king’s council, were Jonathan, David’s uncle, Ahithophel, Abiathar, Jehoiada, the son of Benaiah, and Hushai the Archite, David’s faithful friend and companion. Joab was captain of all the forces. Jehoshaphat, son of Ahilud, was recorder. Zadok, the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech, the son of Abiathar, were chief priests; and Seraiah was the scribe. And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was captain of the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and the sons of the king were chief rulers.

Another element in David’s character now presents itself to our notice. He was not only a brave warrior, a just and able ruler, but a faithful friend. Nothing could make him forgetful of his covenant with Jonathan. In the midst of all his cares, he found time to think and act for the welfare of the descendants of his former friend. “Is there yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” It was no ordinary favour which the king intended to bestow upon the remnant of this broken family. For when Ziba, an old servant of Saul, was brought to him, he repeats his question in the most emphatic form, “Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God [i. e. the highest favour possible) unto him?” In answer to this inquiry, Ziba told him that Jonathan “had yet a son living, who was lame in his feet.” David immediately orders him to be brought to the court; and in the kindest manner addresses him, “Fear not, for I will surely show thee kindness, for Jonathan, thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul, thy father, and thou shalt eat bread continually at my table.” Ziba was to farm the heritage, and bring in the fruits for his master’s sustenance, or the maintenance of his household. Ziba undertook the charge, while Mephibosheth dwelt at court, “and eat at the king’s table as one of the king’s sons.” This was princely kindness to the only heir of a fallen and rival house; but was such as became the true and unselfish friendship of Jonathan and David — as beautiful as it is rare in the history of our selfish world.

The peace which had now lasted for some years, was suddenly broken by the strangest and most unprovoked insult on the part of the Ammonites. Nahash, king of the Ammonites, a former friend of David, died; upon which David sent an embassy to comfort Hanun, the new king. The intention of David was strangely misinterpreted; his ambassadors were regarded as spies; and sent home with gross insult; contrary to all public faith, hospitality, or law. Instigated by his counsellors, Hanun took the servants of David, “and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle,” and, thus disgraced, sent them away. When this was made known to David, he sent to meet his ambassadors, and ordered them to remain at Jericho until their beards were grown, and then return.

When the Ammonites saw that they had made themselves odious to David, they prepared immediately for war, “and hired aid from the Rehobites and Zobahites, twenty thousand footmen, from the king of Maacah one thousand, and from Ishtob twelve thousand men.” Aware of this vast preparation, David saw that war was inevitable, and that there could be no delay; Joab and the whole host of mighty men were sent to meet the enemy. The Ammonites drew up their forces under the walls of the city, and the Syrians in the field by themselves. Joab however profited by this division. When he saw the plan of the enemy, he took the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians; and the rest of the army, under Abishai his brother, he arrayed against the Ammonites. And he said, “If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me; but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will come and help thee. Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people and for the cities of our God; and the Lord do that which seemeth him good.”

The hired Syrians soon broke and fled from the attack of Joab; upon which the Ammonites fled also from before Abishai, and entered into the city. Joab returned with his victorious army to Jerusalem. The war, however, was not to end here. “When the Syrians saw that they were smitten before Israel, they sent messengers, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the river Euphrates; and they gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Helam.” Afi’airs were now at such a crisis as to demand the presence of the king himself. Gathering a general levy of all his forces, “ho crossed over Jordan, and came to Helam.” In the battle which followed, David was again successful; the men of seven hundred chariots, and forty thousand footmen, perished in the fight, and Shobach their captain fell with them. The Syrian princes, who were subject to Hadarezer, made peace with David, and the Ammonites were left to carry on the war, which they had provoked, alone.* At the opening of the next campaign, Joab was sent against the Ammonites. “He wasted their country, and came and besieged Kabbah, its capital.” After a long, but successful siege, Joab sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah, and have taken the city of waters. Now, therefore, come with the rest of the people and encamp against the city and take it; lest I take the city and it be called after my name.” “And David gathered the people, and went and took Rabbah; and took the crown of their king, the weight whereof was a talent of gold, with the precious stones; and the spoil of the city in great abundance. And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkiln.f So did he with all the cities of the Ammonites; and David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.”

* Internal evidence fixes the twentieth and twenty-first Psalms to this period of the history. The one to be sung probably as the king entered upon the war, and the other celebrating his return.

t This is the rendering of our version. But the original may be rendered: And he put them to saws, and to harrows, or mines of iron, and to axes, &c., i. e. he reduced them to slavery. There is no necessity or justice in supposing David guilty of the cruelties which our translation seems to imply.

SECTION VIII.

DAVID’S SIN IN THE AFFAIR OF BATH-SHEBA AND URIAH — HIS DOMESTIC AFFLIC-TIONS — ABSALOM’S REBELLION DAVID’S RESTORATION TO THE KINGDOM — INSUR-RECTION OF SHEBA.

While Joab was urging forward the siege of Rabbali, David remained at Jerusalem. Up to this point nothing had occurred to mar the character of David. He could claim with truth, “I have kept the ways of Jehovah, and have not wickedly departed from my God.” In all the scenes of his eventful life, in his distress, and in his prosperity, he had been kept from the ruling power of temptation or sin. But, as if to show us that no human character was perfect, Ave now find him falling into grievous and shameful sins. The sacred historian in no way conceals or excuses this awful fall. While walking upon the roof of his palace, the king was smitten by the beauty of Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the liittite, one of his bravest warriors. Hurried away by his guilty passion, he passed at once all the restraint of law and religion. Startled at the consequences of his sin, he sends for Uriah, to conceal, if possible, his guilt, and avoid the disgrace and punishment to which he was justly exposed. When Uriah appeared, David inquired “how the people did, and how the war prospered,” and then dismissed Uriah to his home. But the brave soldier, inured to the hardships of the camp, refused to go to his house, and spent the night with the guards of the royal palace. When asked the reason of his conduct, he replied. That it was sufScient for him to share with his general and his fellow soldiers; while they were encamped in the field he would rest with them. On the following day, David renewed his attempt in a grosser manner, but without changing the purpose of this true-hearted and gallant soldier.

Foiled in every attempt to conceal his sin from the injured husband, the unhappy king found no resource in his extremity, but in a deeper crime. It was resolved that Uriah must die; but the crime was committed through the hand of another. “And David wrote to Joab, by the hand of Uriah, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him that he may be smitten and die.” He found in Joab a fit instrument for his purpose. The command was no sooner received than it was executed. Uriah fell, the monarch was freed from present danger; and Joab succeeded in coiling another strand around the infatuated king. A messenger was despatched to the court with an account of the loss, and the readily satisfied king replied to his ofiicer, “Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another; make thy battle more strong against the city and overthrow it.” After the usual time of mourning for her husband, the king publicly espoused Bath-sheba, and she became his wife, and bare him a son.

With the sins of adultery and murder, and constant hypocrisy, upon his conscience, we should not have expected that he could long remain at ease. David was no hardened and habitual sinner. A strong temptation had overtaken him, and buried him beneath its power. One sin had driven him on to another, until he had accumulated this fearful load of guilt. His conscience was quieted and stunned. For a length of time he appears to have felt no remorse. We hear from him no confession, no prayer for mercy. Sin has done, what it ever does, and ever will do. It has not only brought guilt upon his soul, but it has blinded, so that he shall not see its stains.

But there were other eyes that had beheld his conduct. The sleepless eye of God was upon him, “and the thing that David had done was evil in the eyes of the Lord;” and, though he was unmindful of his guilt, he was soon to feel its heavy weight. And Jehovah sent Nathan unto David. By an artful fable, the prophet brought the king to pronounce sentence upon himself, and then made the application. “There were two men in the same 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 brought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drink of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveller 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 unto him.” David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said, “As the Lord liveth, the man that has done this thing shall surely die: and shall restore the lamb fourfold.”

And Nathan said to David, “Thou art the on an. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel; and delivered thee from the hand of Saul; and I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives, and the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given thee such and such things. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah, and hast taken his wife for thy wife. Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from thy house. 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 to thy ncighhour: for thou didst it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel.”

This fearful sentence roused the conscience of David from its slumbers. He was at once convicted of his sin; and like every true penitent, confessed without extenuation or excuse. His religious feelings claimed again their supremacy. And David said, “I have sinned against the Lord.” The genuine nature of David’s repentance may be clearly gathered from the 51st Psalm, which he penned upon this occasion. It has been the memorial of his sin, and of his repentance. It has been the language of every true Christian, in all his returns to God — the language of the church in all her confessions. It could have been breathed forth only from a broken and contrite heart. The terms of his confession tell us, how deep was the sense of guilt; and the earnest longings after God — the seeking of a pure heart — the prayer for the welfare of Zion, all proclaim that this was no feigned repentance, wrung from him by a desire to avert the punishment he feared; but a deep, sincere, and godly sorrow, springing from his sense of the odiousness of sin, and of the wrong which he had done. In no part of his life does the deep religious principle of David appear more conspicuous than in this. Ordinary piety might have resented so sudden and bold a reproof, especially when seated upon a throne. But David, the victorious monarch, bows himself at once, and submits to the just sentence of God. ‘■’■ I have sinned against the Lord.” Upon this ingenuous confession, Nathan pronounces his pardon. “The Lord also hath put away thy sin: thou shalt not die. But since by this deed, thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child that is born unto thee shall surely die.”*

However sincere his repentance, it did not stay the results and punishment of his sin. The child was suddenly taken ill. David “humbled himself, fasted, and besought God for the child.” His prayer was not granted, and on the seventh day the child died, according to the sentence of the prophet. While the child was ill, the king refused all sustenance, and lay in deep distress; but when he perceived that the child was dead, “he rose from the earth, anointed himself, and went into the house of the Lord and worshipped, and came to his house and took the food offered him.” Surprised at this, his servants asked the reason of his conduct. And David said, “while the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

* It seems probable, that it was at this time also, the 32d and 33d Psalms were written.

Soon after this, Solomon was born, of whom it is said, “the Lord loved him.”

The star of David was now sinking to the horizon. The Hebrew kingdom had reached the highest point in strength and real glory. Its first true king was the bravest and the best. His reign hitherto had been successful, almost beyond parallel; but from this time it is sullied by “domestic shame, misery, and confusion.”

The loss of the child was soon followed by a heavier stroke, in the unbridled passion of his eldest son Amnon. He had fallen desperately in love with his half-sister Tamar; and by the advice of Jonadab his cousin, feigned himself sick, and sought from David, that his sister might come and prepare him food in his presence. The unsuspecting king consented, and the plot succeeded according to the wishes of those who had formed it. No entreaties or remonstrances on the part of Tamar could save her; and the innocent and helpless fell a victim to incestuous passion and brutal violence. Having sated his passion, the sensual wretch sent her away to bear her shame. “And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garments, and laid her hand on her head, and went away weeping.” Thus sorrowing, she met Absalom her brother, who took her, desolate, to his home, exhorted her to bear her injury with patience, and concealed his purpose of revenge. Such a crime as this could not long be kept from the king. But great as was his anger, he appears to have spared his guilty son. The remembrance of his own sin may have stayed the sword of justice. For some reason the author of this abominable wickedness escaped for a time.

But though retribution was delayed, it was still preparing. The purpose of revenge lay smouldering in Absalom’s heart, and two years after was carried into execution. The festival of sheep-shearing furnished the occasion for his revenge. “He invited his brothers to the feast, and Amnon” among the rest. It was with some difficulty that he persuaded the king to consent to this arrangement; but his urgency prevailed, and he let Amnon and all his sons go with him. The opportunity did not pass unimproved. Absalom charged his servants, that in the height of the feast, they should assail Amnon and slay him; “fear not, have not I commanded you?” The servants did as they were commanded. Amnon fell in cold-blooded murder. “The king’s sons rose from the feast and fled.” The evil report, however, flew before them; while they were yet in the way, news came that all the king’s sons were slain. “Then the king arose, tore his garments, and lay upon the earth.” But Jonadab saw what the fact was, and urged the king to moderate his grief. “Let not my lord take the thing to his heart, to think that all the king’s sons are dead: for Amnon only is dead, for by the appointment of Absalom the thing hath been settled.” The result proved this conjecture right; he had scarcely done speaking, when the terror-struck sons appeared, and wept over the loss of their brother. Thus one sin became the cause of another; and the latter in turn is the punishment of the former, as often happens under the holy providence of God.

Absalom immediately fled to his grandfather, Talmai, king of Geshur, where he was secure from the just anger of his father, and the reach of a broken law. The unhappy king, mourning over Tamar and Amnon, still longed for the return of his exiled son.

Three years passed before he was allowed to return. The subtle Joab perceived that the king’s heart was toward Absalom, and he took steps to “secure his return. “He sent to Tekoah, and brought thence a wise woman,” and told her to feign herself a mourner, as one that had long mourned for the dead; and to come and make known her sorrow to the king. The tale wdiich Joab taught her to relate, was one well calculated to rouse the paternal feelings of David. According to her instructions the woman went, and obtained audience of the king; and in the most earnest manner entreated his aid. “I am a widow woman, and mine husband is dead. And thy handmaid had two sons, and they strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one slew the other. And behold the whole family is risen up, and demand him that smote his brother, that they may kill him, for the life of his brother; and so they shall quench my coal which is left, and shall not leave to my husband neither name nor remainder upon the earth. And the king said. Go to thine house, and I will give charge concerning thee.” Lest the king’s conscience should scruple to interfere with the course of justice, the woman takes all the consequences to herself. “My lord, 0 king, the iniquity be on me and on my father’s house: and the king and his throne be guiltless.” He then gave her a still stronger assurance that her prayer was granted: but as if still fearful, she urged again her petition, and the king then confirmed his promise by an oath: “As the Lord liveth there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.” Having thus gained his attention, and secured from him a solemn promise to spare a living son, though guilty of murder, she brings out the real object of her petition. And she said, “Wherefore, then, hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this thing as one that is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch home his banished.” She bases her argument on the universality of death, and that no punishment of the murderer could restore him to life who had been slain; and further, that God himself, in the law for the avenging of blood, and the cities of refuge, had devised means that his banished be not expelled from him. She then excuses her bold attempt, and throws herself “upon the royal mercy. For as an angel of God, so is my lord the king, to discern both good and bad.”

David at once perceived that this did not originate with the woman, and traced it to its true source. He yielded, however, to the suggestion; and commanded Joab to bring Absalom again to Jerusalem. Joab went to Geshur, and brought the exile home; but David refused to see him for two full years more.

Absalom was noted throughout the kingdom for the beauty of his person; a thing of no small importance in a land where jjersonal appearance went far towards power. The confinement which he was compelled to endure, was a sore trial to this ambitious man; who was already looking forward to the throne. From selfish motives, therefore, he sought a full reconciliation with his offended father, upon whose favour every thing depended. In this extremity he appealed to Joab, but without success. “At length, by setting on fire the barley-field of Joab,” he forced an interview. To Joab’s complaint he makes no answer, but this, “Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it had been good for me to have been there still: now, therefore, let me see the king’s face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me.” Joab went to the king and told him; and when he called for Absalom, he “came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king; and the king kissed Absalom.”

The reconciliation, though only feigned on the part of Absalom, was still sufficient for his purpose. Having obtained the favour of the king, this ungrateful son plunged madly into his desperate career. Availing himself of his personal accomplishments and winning manners, he gained the favour of the people. He prepared and maintained the pomp and retinue of a king. To ingratiate himself still more with the people, “he stood beside the way to the palace; and it was so that when any man had a controversy, and came to the king for judgment, Absalom inquired into his cause; and told him, See thy matters are good and right, but none will hear thee from the king.” By these insinuations against his father’s government — by an indiscriminate flattery towards all who came to the court, Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

Having secured numbers to his interest, he thought the people ripe for rebellion. He covers his treason with the mask of piety. Under pretence of paying a vow, which he had made during his exile, he gains permission from the king to go to Hebron, a sacred city, Absalom’s birth-place, and a strong fortress. When he left the king, he took with him two hundred men; who went with him to attend the feast, and without any knowledge of his secret designs. At the same time he sent spies to his retainers “throughout all the tribes in Israel,” saying, “As soon as ye shall hear the sound of the trumpet, ye shall say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron.” After his arrival at Hebron, he called to him Ahithophel, David’s counsellor, and who was no doubt privy to the conspiracy. Having thus obtained possession of this important place — once the seat of David’s government — he was proclaimed king. The people flocked to him in large numbers, “and the conspiracy was strong.”

News soon came to David that “the hearts of the men of Israel were after Absalom.” Astounded by the suddenness of the event, and the evident signs of disaffection throughout the kingdom, David resolves upon instant flight, “lest Absalom overtake us suddenly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.” Most of the king’s servants were faithful; and “he went forth, and all the people after him,” and tarried in a place that was not far off. The whole body of the king’s guards, Cherethites, Pelethites, and Gittites, passed on before him.* (In the midst of the general apostacy of the Israelites, it is pleasant to see the conduct of Ittai the Gittite, who, though a stranger, still follows David in his flight; and though warned of the danger, adhered to the king with a faithfulness and strength of affection which might well have shamed his rebellious subjects.) No time was to be lost. The impending danger forbade any delay. “And all the country wept with a loud voice, and the people passed over: the king himself also passed over the brook Kidron, toward the way of the wilderness.” Zadok and Abiathar, and the whole body of the Levites went with the king, “bearing the ark of the covenant of God.” “And he said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again and show me both it and his habitation: but if he thus say, I have no delight in thee, behold here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him.” This was bearing afiiiction with Christian resignation — a hope and trust in God worthy of all imitation.

The ark of God was carried back to Jerusalem, and David remained in the plain until he should receive word from Zadok and Abiathar of what was passing in the city. These men remained true to their king in all his adversity; though forbidden by their ofiice to leave the ark, and go with him in his flight. Their services in the city were of far more avail than they could have been in the camp.

* In his present distress, David composed the third Psalm. In this dark time, we find him still able to put his faith in God, quiet his fears, and look forward to a certain deliverance.

David then went on in the flight, “by the ascent of mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot; and all the people that was with him covered every man his head and went up, weeping as they went.” He went as a mourning penitent rather than a king. No Christian can read this account without being reminded of another ascent up the sides of this same mount, by a far greater King than David, and who yet walked under a heavier load of sorrow.

In this journey he heard of the treason of Ahithophel;* and David prayed, “0 Lord, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness; for the counsel of Ahithophel in these days, was as if a man inquired at the oracle of God.” As he reached the top of the mount, he was met by his faithful counsellor Hushai, whom he sent to the city, to defeat, if possible, the counsel of Ahithophel, and to advise the priests in their plans to assist the king. Hushai returned to Jerusalem, and found Absalom there.

The incidents in this flight crowd thickly upon each other. Not long after David had passed the summit of the mount, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, met him with a liberal supply for his necessity. The king asked after his master; and Ziba said, “He abideth at Jerusalem, for he said. To-day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.” The ingratitude and perfidy of such conduct, if the report was true, justify fully the sentence of David, in revoking his former grant to Mephibosheth, and bestowing the lands upon his servant.

David found enemies to taunt him in his adversity, as well as friends to comfort. Scarcely had he left Ziba, when he fell in with “Shimei, the son of Gera, of the family of Saul, who came out and cursed still as he came.” In his fury and rage “he cast stones at the king, and said, Come out, thou bloody man, thou man of Belial; the Lord hath returned upon thee the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned.” It is no wonder that such bitter insults to the king should excite the indignation of his ofiicers. But David restrained their anger, by a reference to the wise and just providence of God, and to his present afiliction. “If my son seeketh my life, how much more may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord hath bidden him. It may be that the Lord will look on mine afiliction, and that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day.” And the king, and all the people came weary, and refreshed themselves at Bahurim.

While David was thus hastening on in his flight, Absalom had entered the city, and held his council. This success

* On this treachery of Ahithophel, David penned the 55th Psalm.

appears to have been more complete than he had anticipated. When Hushai saluted him with a “God save the king,” Absalom reproached him with his apparent want of kindness to David his friend. He was now too hardened and bold to feel that his reproach fell with tenfold more force upon a traitorous son. In an artful reply, Hushai concealed his real purpose, “Whom the Lord and all Israel choose, his will I be, and with him will I abide. Whom should I serve? should it not be his son? as I have served in thy father’s presence, so will I be in thy presence.” Flattered with this, Absalom gave him a place amoncr the number of his counsellors.* In the council, Ahithophel was yet pre-eminent. He saw well that in so desperate an enterprise no half-measures would do, and he did not hesitate to advise the most violent steps. He felt it necessary to show the people that there was no possibility of reconciliation; and to do it, “he urged Absalom to take public possession of his father’s concubines.” The graceless pupil yielded readily to his wicked teacher; and Nathan’s dreadful threatening to David was fulfilled.

“Ahithophel, moreover, said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will pursue after David this night, and will come upon him while he is weary and weakbanded, and will make him afraid: and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only, and will bring back the people unto thee in peace.” Absalom felt no compunctions at the idea of thus murdering his father; but resolved to hear further the advice of Hushai, whom he now supposed firmly attached to his interests. This was the fatal step in his course. In all human probability, had he followed the advice of Ahithophel, David must have fallen. When Hushai learned the counsel of Ahithophel, he immediately condemned it, and with specious reasons justified his opinion. For, said he, “Thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty men, and chafed in their minds as a bear robbed of her whelps; and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people. Behold he is now hid in some hold!” And if some of those who attack him should fall, the whole party would be struck with terror, “and the hearts of the most valiant melt; for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men. 1 therefore counsel that all Israel be a-athered for the fiofht — that thou go to battle in thine own person,” — “that thus with the whole host we light upon thy father as dew falleth on the

* The morality in this reply of Hushai, is questionable. It may easily be justified by the principles of political prudence, or state reasons j but it is not so clearly right on the principles of Christian morality.

ground, or if he l3e gotten into a city, that we then bring ropes and draw into the river till there be not a stone found there.”

The argument and counsel of Hushai prevailed. The advice of Ahithophel was rejected, by the unanimous consent of the council. “For,” says the record, “the Lord had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom;” i. e. the wisest advice was overruled by the providence of God, so that this unnatural son might receive the just punishment of his crimes.

Ahithophel now saw that all was lost; and went forthwith “to his house and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.”

At the same time, Hushai sent to David by Zadok and Abiathar the results of the council, and tidings of his danger. The sons of the priests who were to bear the message, were discovered and pursued; but they avoided their pursuers, and reached the king with the message of his faithful servants in the city, “Arise and pass quickly over the water: for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you.” “Then David arose, and they that were with him, and they passed over Jordan; by the morning light there lacked not one that had not gone over. And they came to Mahanaim.”

“While David was at Mahanaim, there came to him, with abundant supplies for himself and his men, Shobi the son of Nahash the Ammonite, Machir, with whom Mephibosheth had long dwelt, and Barzillai the Gileadite. In this fruitful district David had leisure to recruit his wearied followers, and to call around him the brave men who were still loyal to their king. In the mean time, Absalom was urging on his preparations. All the men of Israel had been gathered. Amasa, Joab’s nephew, was made captain of the host. And Absalom himself, at the head of his army, passed over Jordan in pursuit of his father. The armies of the father and son were pitched in the land of Gilead. The fate of the kingdom was to turn upon a single battle.

David arranged his forces in three divisions, one under Joab, a second under Abishai, a third under Ittai, the Gittite. He proposed to take the command in person; but the people would not permit it. They thought it more prudent that he should remain in the city, with a reserve force to aid them in case of necessity. The king yielded to their wishes. As the army inarched out to battle, David charged his generals, “in the presence of all the people; Deal gently, for my sake, with the young man, even with Absalom.”

The engagement took place in the wood of Ephraim, on the east side of Jordan. David’s forces were victorious, and the rebel army routed with the loss of twenty thousand men, the larger part of -wliom fell in the flight. Absalom perished by a most singular fate. In riding through the wood, his head and hair became entangled in the branches of an oak, and he was left hanging in the air, by the escape of his mule. In this situation he was discovered by one of Joab’s men, who carried the intelligence to his general. Joab at first reproved the man for sparing the rebel, and then hastened away, in open contempt of the command which he had received, to slay him, while the king could not interfere. When this was done, he recalled his troops from the pursuit. “And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him.” Thus perished this miserable man: the only monument of his ambition was the pillar which he had erected in his lifetime, and which served to perpetuate the remembrance of his crimes.

AVhen Ahimaaz requested to bear tidings of the victory to David, Joab, who knew with what regret David would hear the death of his son, refused to let him go. Another messenger was sent, who was present and witnessed the death of Absalom. Ahimaaz renewed his request, and at last obtained permission to go. In the way to the city he passed Cushi, who had started before him. As they came to the city, “David was sitting by the gates” waiting to hear the event of the battle. Ahimaaz reached the gate first, and cried to the king, “All is well, and fell upon his face to the earth, and said. Blessed be the Lord thy God, which hath delivered up the men that lifted up their hands against my lord the king.” David’s first inquiry was for the life of his son. “Is the young man Absalom safe.” Ahimaaz replied, that when he left the scene of battle “he saw a great tumult, but knew not what it was.” Just at this time the official messenger was brought to the king, and said, “Tidings, my lord, the king: for the Lord hath avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee.” The anxious father repeats the question, “Is the young man, Absalom, safe? and Cushi answered. The enemies of my lord the king, and all that rise against thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is.” “And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept; and as he went, thus he said, 0 my son Absalom! my son, my son Absalom! Would God I had died for thee, 0 Absalom, my son, my son!” And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people; for the people heard say that day, how the king was grieved for his son. And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as people being ashamed steal away, when they flee in battle. But the king covered his face and cried, 0 my son Absalom, 0 Absalom, my son, my son!”

When Joab learned the public and immoderate grief of the king for his son, and saw its effect upon the army, he Tvent boldly into the king, and with the most heartless effrontery reproved him for his conduct. Instead of excusing his own disobedience of orders, he reproaches the king for his grief. “Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants which this day have saved thy life. 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, then it had pleased thee well. Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy servants; for I swear by the Lord, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry one with thee this night.” This firm, but imperious and unjust remonstrance, had its effect. “David arose and sat in the gate, and all the people came before the king.”*

The death of Absalom put an effectual end to the conspiracy. On all sides the loyalty of the people began to regain its ascendency. The sense of the injustice which they had done to David served to quicken the remembrance of the obligations which they owed to him. “The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies, and out of the hand of the Philistines; now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?” Everywhere the sentiments of affection and duty were bringing the people to their allegiance to David.

Though this was the state of all Israel, the tribe of Judah had not yet publicly moved; and David sent messengers “to the elders of Judah, saying. Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh, why are ye the last then to bring back the king to his home?” To Amasa, Absalom’s general, he sent a special message. “Art not thou of my bone and of my flesh? God do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of Joab.”t The message was effectual. “The heart of all the men of Judah was turned to David as the heart of one man, and they sent unto the king, Return thou and all thy servants. So the king returned and came to Jordan.”

In his return, the king was accompanied by a large number of those who had sustained him during the rebellion. As he came to the Jordan, he was met by the tribe of Judah, who had come to conduct him home. With the tribe of Judah came

* During this exile of David from the temple, he appears to have penned several of his most beautiful Psalms. We owe probably the 42dj 43dj 70th, 71st and 143d, to this occasion.

t This has been thought a very impolitic and unjust measure. But it should be remembered, that Joab, though loyal, had forfeiteil all right to the command by his disobedience of orders, and his excessively haughty demeanour. As to the prudence of the message, Amasa was most probably the most influential man in the tribe of Judah, and once secured to David’s interest, would bring the whole tribe with him. David no doubt hoped in this way to break the domineering power of Joab<

Shimei with a thousand men of Benjamin, and Zlba with his servants. As soon as the king had crossed the river, Shimei cast himself at his feet, made an humble confession of his sin, and sought the king’s pardon. Abishai again seeks permission to put him to death, because he had cursed the Lord’s anointed. But David reproved his officious zeal: “Shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel? Therefore the king sware unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die.” The same faith which led David to bear patiently his malignant curses, now kept him in his prosperity from taking vengeance into his own hands.

Soon after Shimei, Mephibosheth came to congratulate David upon his return. From the day the king had departed, “Mephibosheth had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes.” There was every apparent sign of deep grief. When they reached Jerusalem, David inquired why he had not gone with him. He answered that his servant “had deceived him,” and had slandered him to the king; “but my lord the king is as an angel of God: do therefore what is good in thine eyes.” David stopped him in his apology. ‘^’Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said thou and Ziba divide the land.” Whatever was meant by this decision, Mephibosheth was completely satisfied. “Yea,” he says, “let him take all, since the king is come again in peace unto his own house.” It seems probable that David intended to restore the original arrangement between Mephibosheth and his servant, and of course revoke the sentence he had passed when Ziba met him in his flight.

David next proceeded to reward the kindness and faithfulness of the aged Barzillai. “Come thou,” said the king, “over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem.” Barzillai had sustained him at Mahanaim as his king, but David would take him as a guest into his own dwelling and table. The good old man replied, “How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? Can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing-men and singing-women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king? Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again; that I may die in my own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and my mother. But behold thy servant Chimham, let him go over with my lord the king, and do to him what shall seem good unto thee.” David granted his request, and as they parted “the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him, and he returned to his own place; but Chimham went on with him.”

In the late rebellion, some of the people had become seriously disaffected towards the king. A quarrel arose between the tribe of Judah and the rest of Israel, as to the mode in which David was conducted home. The Israelites found fault with Judah that they had “stolen the king from their brethren.” The men of Judah plead their near relation to David. The quarrel became serious, “and the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.” Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite, took advantage of the strife, and blew his trumpet and said, “We have no part in Judah nor inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to his tents, 0 Israel.” Inflamed with their strife, the fickle multitude followed after Sheba.

In the mean time the king reached Jerusalem, rearranged his family, and prepared to suppress the insurrection. Orders were given to Amasa “to assemble the men of Judah,” who were faithful, and hold himself in readiness for further orders. Amasa went to obey the command, but from some cause tarried longer than the time appointed him. During this delay, the insurrection of Sheba was growing into a rebellion; and threatening to become more serious even than the revolt of Absalom. David therefore commissioned Abishai to take forces and quell the conspiracy. Under this commission Abishai and Joab (though Joab had received no orders) “took the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and the mighty men, and pursued after Sheba.” When they reached Gibeon, they fell in with Amasa their cousin, and Joab, without any hesitation, and under the pretence of friendship, murdered him as he had murdered Abner long before. Leaving one of their men to stand by the body, they hastened on in the pursuit. But when the men saw Amasa lying in his blood, they stood shocked at the spectacle, and with reluctance followed Joab in his expedition.

Sheba had gone through the tribes gathering the disaffected, and with a considerable force had taken refuge in Abel-Beth-maachah. Joab and his men pressed the siege with great vigour. As they were about to take the city, a wise woman cried to Joab, and said, “I am one of them that are peaceful and faithful in Israel; thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel; why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the Lord?” Joab answered that this was not his purpose, “Far be it from me that I should swallow up or destroy. I seek only Sheba, who hath lifted up his hand against the king; deliver him only, and I will depart from the city.” To avoid the siege, the people of the city listened to the advice of the woman, cut ofi” Sheba’s head, and cast it over the wall to Joab. This was the end of this wicked insurrection. With the death of Sheba all disaifoction ceased. Joab withdrew with his army, and returned to Jerusalem. He was yet sufficiently powerful to escape the punishment he deserved. In fact David was now in the hands of his general, and felt himself unable to execute the sentence which his own sense of justice -would have led him to pass. The brave, haughty, imperious man, was still over all the host of Israel, and justice slumbered for a time.

SECTION IX.

FAMINE OF THREE YEARS — WAR WITH THE PHILISTINES — THE PESTILENCE — THE

PREPARATION FOR THE TEMPLE SOLOMON MADE KING DAVID’S CHARGE TO THE

PEOPLE AND SOLOMON — DAVID’S DEATH.

Between the threatening of David by the prophet Nathan, and the death of Sheba, nearly thirteen years had passed away. This whole interval was one of heavy cares and civil strife. Between the grief over his own sin — the mortification at the unnatural and sinful conduct of his sons — and the facility with which his subjects were drawn away from their allegiance to the throne — there was little peace to the unhappy king. Nor were his trials all past.

When Saul, in his anger, murdered the priests at Nob, he slew also, as it seems probable, the Gibeonites,* who were servants of the priests, and thus (as well as by special covenant) under the peculiar care of God. This violation of public faith did not pass unnoticed. God was pleased “to make inquisition for the blood which had thus been unrighteously shed;” and sent a famine upon the land for three successive years. David inquired of the Lord what was the cause of the judgment. And the Lord answered, “It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.” Thus warned, David sent for the remnant of this people, and asked what must be done, that an atonement might be made, and that “ye may bless the inheritance of Israel.” They answered that they would have neither silver nor gold, “but that seven men of the sons of Saul who had consumed them, should be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul.” The king said, “I will give them;” but sparing the family of Jonathan (and all the male line of Saul, who alone could ever have made any claim to the crown) he chose two sons of Bizpah, Saul’s concubine, “and the five sons of Merab, the daughter of Saul.” These seven were delivered to the Gibeonites, and hanged. The broken-hearted Bizpah “took sackcloth and spread it upon the rock, and watched there for five long months, until the rain dropped upon it out of heaven.” “The bones of these seven, with the bones of Saul and Jonathan, David took

* Whether Saul slew these Gibeonites, on the occasion here mentioned, or not, does not appear clear from the narrative. It may be that, in his blind zeal, in the early part of his reign, he thought to secure the favour of the people and of God, by putting these Gibeonites to death. In either case the offence is the same, and the act in express violation of the treaty of Joshua and the Israelites.

and burled in the sepulchre of Kish. And after that, God was entreated for the land.”

Thus God, by his sovereign appointment, expressed his abhorrence of the crime of Saul. It is not necessary to suppose that those who perished were implicated in crime; they suffered, indeed, but they suffered in virtue of his appointment, who had the lives of all in his hands, and can rightfully recall them to himself when and how he pleases. In this melancholy transaction, David stands clear from all blame or jealousy of the house of Saul, by the very terms of the narrative, and from the fact that he spared all the male descendants of that house, who were at this time numerous in Israel.

At this point of the narrative, the restless Philistines appear again. Four severe battles were fought between David and the Philistines. In the first of these, David fought in person, and waxing faint was nearly slain by a Philistine giant; but Abishai came to his relief “and smote the Philistine and killed him.” Alarmed at this sign of his increasing age, the men of David sware unto him, saying, “Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.” In each of the succeeding battles, a Philistine of gigantic stature fell by the hand of David and his servants. These irreconcilable enemies were thus effectually humbled, and the rest of David’s reign was free from foreign war. “And David spake unto the Lord the words of this song — in the day that the Lord delivered him out of the hand of his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul.” “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; the God of my rock; in him will I trust.” He relates his trust in God, in the time of his distresses — the wonderful manner in which God had delivered him — his own integrity in his adherence to God; and then closes with an ascription of all his military success and prosperity to God alone, and a solemn thanksgiving for all the mercies he had received. “JTe, Jehovah, is the tower of salvation for his king; and showeth mercy to his anointed, unto David and to his seed for evermore. Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, 0 Lord, among the heathen, I will sing praises unto thy name.”

After these closing wars with the Philistines, the Hebrew kingdom enjoyed an interval of peace and prosperity. They were free from foreign wars, and the people remained happy and contented under their government. But at length an incident took place which marred this scene of peace in which David’s long reign seemed about to close. “The anger of the Lord was moved against Israel, and Satan, as the adversary, was permitted to tempt David to number the people.” David yielded to the temptation. Pride in his flourishing kingdom, or perhaps a desire after foreign conquest, moved him to this step,

SO offensive to God, and in direct contempt of that promise, that the seed of Israel should be innumerable. Joab was commissioned to take the census. At first he remonstrated against the measure. “The Lord make his people an hundred times as many as they be; but why doth my Lord the king delight in this thing, and make himself a cause of trespass to Israel.” The king’s word, however, prevailed against Joab; and they went forth to number the people. After a census of nine months, they gave their return to the king. The two statements vary as to the number, so far as it was taken; but they may be nearly reconciled by supposing that the military were not enrolled in one case, whereas they were included in the larger number. The census was never fully completed. The duty was odious to Joab, and offensive to God; “and Levi and Benjamin were not counted.”

Wrath fell from the Lord while the census was going forward, “and he smote Israel.” David’s conscience condemned him, and he said unto God, “I have sinned greatly in that I have done; but now, I beseech thee, 0 Lord, do away with the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly. And the Lord spake unto Gad, the prophet, Go and tell David, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things, choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee; either three years of famine, or three months flight before thine enemies, or three days pestilence from the destroying angel throughout the coasts of Israel. David replied, I am in a great strait; let us fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies; but let me not fall into the hand of man.” The pestilence came, “and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.” When the angel reached Jerusalem, the command came, “It is enough, stay now thine hand.” “And the angel stood by the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” David then assumed to himself the sin and the guilt. “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, but not on my people tkat they should be plagued.” Upon this humiliation of David, and intercession for his people, the message came by the prophet, “Go up, rear an altar unto the Lord in the threshing-floor of Araunah.” David went as the Lord commanded; purchased the ground at its full price, “and built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings. So the plague was stayed from Israel.” Araunah at first wished to give the ground, the victims, and the fuel, to the king; but David refused. He was unwilling “to offer unto the Lord that which cost him nothing.” And besides, it is probable that he had received some communication that the spot thus chosen by God as a place of offering, was to be the place for the temple, and to become the seat of the public worship of all the tribes of Israel.* “Then David said, This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of the burnt-offering for Israel,” thereby consecrating it for that temple Tsdiich was “to be builded for the Lord, exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries.”

With all the strength which yet remained to him, this pious king now set himself to prepare for the temple. Although forbidden to build it himself, he felt called upon to do what was in his power to hasten it forward. The rest of his days were devoted to this work. “An hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver, brass and iron without weight, wrought stones, and cedar wood in abundance, were prepared to build the house of God.” Solomon and the princes of Israel received the charge to arise and build. While engaged in this peaceful work, so suited to the closing days of a long and troublous reign, his attention was called to the question concerning the succession to the throne. It was no doubt well known to all at the court, that David had selected Solomon for heir. He himself appears to have considered it as decided, and did not anticipate any opposition to the choice. But Adonijah the son of Haggith, the king’s eldest son then living, (Amnon and Absalom, the first and third sons, had been slain, and Chileab the second had probably died,) laid claim to the throne as his inheritance. Like Absalom, he was of goodly person and a favourite with his father. For some time he had maintained a princely state and retinue, and David had not forbidden him. Encouraged by this permission of the king, he conferred with Joab and Abiathar, and with their advice formed the purpose of usurping the kingdom. With Joab as the head of the army, and Abiathar as the head of the priests, he felt certain of success, “and invited the king’s sons and the men of Judah” to a banquet, when he was to be crowned king. Those who were known as friends to Solomon were not invited. “Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not.” David seems to have been in utter ignorance of Adonijah’s design. Nathan first acquaints Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, with this conspiracy; and urges her by her own life and the life of her son, to go to David and claim the fulfilment of his promise, “that Solomon should reign after him and sit upon his throne.” Bathsheba went to the king, who was now enfeebled with age, and ministered to by Abishag the Shunamite, and said, “My lord, thou swearest by the Lord thy God unto thine handmaid, assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me; and now Adonijah reigneth, and

* For the consecration of this place David wrote the 30th Psalm.

thou Tcnowcst It not. And thou, my lord, 0 king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.” While she was yet speaking, Nathan the prophet came in, and confirmed her intelligence. David at once recalled his wonted energy, and in the most solemn terms renewed the grant to Solomon. “As the Lord liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress, even as I sware unto thee by the Lord God of Israel, assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day.” Bathsheha received the appointment of her son with the deepest reverence and thankfulness, and said, “Let my lord, king David, live for ever.” David, however, once fully roused to the danger, did not let the matter rest here. “And the king said. Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah; and they came before the king. And he said. Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon, and let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel, for he shall be king m my stead; and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. And. Benaiah said, Amen: the Lord God of my lord the king say so too.” They went down accordingly, with the Cherethltes and Pelethltes, and anointed Solomon king. “And they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, God save king Solomon; and they rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.”

The joy of the people, at the peaceful succession of Solomon to the throne, disturbed the feast of Adonijah and his friends. They were not left long in doubt, as to the cause of rejoicing, Jonathan the son of Abiathar came and said to Adonijah: Verily, king David hath made Solomon king, and moreover, the king’s servants came to bless our lord king David, saymg, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed, and said. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mme eyes even seeing it.” Upon this intelligence, the feast was broken up, “and every man went his own way.” No notice was immediately taken of the actors in this conspiracy. Adonijah fled, “and took hold on the horns of the altar;” but Solomon sent for him, and publicly pardoned him, and dismissed him to his own house. Thus Solomon, by the Divine election, as well as by the choice of his father, was made king

over Israel. i r i, i

Having thus exalted Solomon to the throne, and established

the civil government of the kingdom, David “gathered together the princes of Israel, and the priests and Levites,” and regulated the methods and orders of public worship. The Levites from thirty years old and upward, numbered thirty-eiht thousand, of whom twenty-four thousand were to set forward the work of the temple, six thousand were judges and officers, four thousand porters, and four thousand praised the Lord. They were divided according to their courses among the sons of Levi. The priests, the sons of Aaron, were to offer the off’erings, to burn incense, and to bless in the name of Jehovah. These also were divided into twenty-four courses, sixteen among the sons of Eleazar, and eight among the sons of Ithamar. The singers under Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, were divided into twenty-four courses of twelve each. To the porters also, David assigned their distinct offices and services. The solemn and gorgeous temple-service was thus provided for. The splendid ritual of the Old Testament economy was completed. The work of David was nearly done. The covenant people were in possession of the promised land; the ark of God, with the visible glorious presence of him who dwelt upon it, had received a restmg-place; the chosen spot for the temple had been determined, and the order of its services appointed; nothing remained but that the man of God should deliver his dying charge, and go to rest with his fathers.

“And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies that ministered to the king by course, and the captains over the thousands, and over the hundreds, and the stewards over all the substance of the king, and of his sons, with the officers, and with the mighty men, and with all the valiant men, unto Jerusalem. Then David the king stood up upon his feet and said. Hear me, my brethren and my people: as for me I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building: but God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood. Howbeit the Lord God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel. And of all my sons (for the Lord hath given me many sons) he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. Moreover, I will establish his kingdom, if he be constant to do my commandments and my judgments, as at this day. Now therefore, in the sight of all

Israel, the congregation of the Lord, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the Lord your God; that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you for ever. And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind; for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever. Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong and do it.”

Then giving Solomon the pattern for the temple and its porches and buildings, an account of the materials he had amassed, and the order of Priests and Levites which he had fixed, he concludes his charge to the young king, “Be strong, and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed; for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.”

To strengthen the interest of the people in this work, David exhorts them, by his own example, to consecrate of their substance to its completion. Because I have set my afiection to the house of my God, “I have given, of mine own proper good, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver; who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?”

The royal munificence of David secured a hearty response to this appeal from the people. “They offered willingly and rejoiced, because with perfect heart they offered unto the Lord. They gave liberally of gold, silver, brass and iron, besides precious stones for the service of the house of God.”

David’s heart was filled with delight at the willing sacrifice of the people. And David said, “Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, 0 Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, 0 Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all: and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding. 0 Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared, to build thee a house for thy holy name, cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own. I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to ofier willingly unto thee. 0 Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee: and give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for the which I have made provision.”* At the call of David, the whole assembly, with one voice, joined in the joyful public worship.

A second time they professed their allegiance to Solomon as king; who now reigned on the throne of his father, and received the acclamations of a loyal people. “And the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.”

As David felt death drawing nigh, he called Solomon and gave him a final charge. “I go the way of all the earth; be thou strong, therefore, and show thyself a man; and keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his commandments, as written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper, and that the Lord may continue his word which he spake concerning me.”

He then charged Solomon to remember Joab, and to deal with him as the murderer of Abner and Amasa. “Do according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace.” It is plain that this command did not spring from any resentment on the part of David. According to every law, human and divine, Joab deserved to die. David was culpable in allowing him to escape justice so long. Doubtless it rested upon his conscience now as death approached; and he felt that he could not depart in peace, unless by some means he could clear his throne and government from any share in the murder of those innocent men; and therefore he charged Solomon, as the administrator of the law, to see justice enforced.

He lays it upon Solomon as a solemn duty to cherish the remembrance of Barzillai’s kindness, “and to deal favourably with his sons: to let them be as those that eat at thy table.”

And at the last, he commands the king, his son, to watch the conduct of Shimei, and to treat him not as a guiltless man; but

* It seems probable that David poured forth his own emotion in the beautiful and prophetic 72d Psalm.

yet, since I have sworn to spare his life, “bring thou his hoar head down to the grave with blood;” or as it may, and probably should be rendered, “bring not his hoar head down to the grave with blood.” Solomon evidently understood the command in this latter sense; for while he executed justice upon Joab, he spared the life of Shimei. He ordered him, indeed, as a seditious and evil-disposed person, to build his house in Jerusalem, and to remain under the eye of the court, on the pain of death. Farther than this he did not understand the command of David to reach. Shimei accepted the conditions, which Solomon imposed, with gladness, and dwelt in peace at Jerusalem. It was only when he violated these conditions, and gave ground for suspicion that he was again bent upon his seditious work, that Solomon passed sentence of death upon him. He did not perish in consequence of David’s charge, (and this makes it perfectly clear that David never intended his death,) but in consequence of his own restless and lawless spirit. He died no doubt as a traitor, for we are told at the time of his death that the kingdom was then established in the hand of Solomon.

Then followed, in the closing scene of his eventful life, these last words of David: “David the son of Jesse, said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet Psalmist of Israel, said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure: for this is all my salvation and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.” After a reign of forty years, he died, in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour. As a warrior, he was brave, prudent, keenly alive to the sufferings of his soldiers, and beloved and trusted by those whom he commanded. His brilliant victories testify to his ability. As a king, he was wise to counsel, and energetic in carrying his plans into execution. He was kind to the suffering, and impartial in the execution of justice. He used his power as one accountable to God. As a man, he was affectionate and generous, noble in all his impulses, forgiving to his enemies and grateful to friends. As an inspired poet, his name and memory have been and will be cherished by every pious heart. As a worshipper of the true God, he was steadfast, sincere, humble, and trustful, a pattern to those who came after him. And though he fell grievously, yet he submitted to reproof, humbled himself before God in the truest repentance, and obtained an abiding sense of his mercy. He may justly be numbered among the greatest and the best, not only of kings, but of men.

SECTION X.

SOLOMON KING — HIS SACRIFICE AT GIBEON — DEATH OF ADONIJAH AND JOAB — SOLO-MON PREPARES TO BUILD THE TEMPLE THE TREATY WITH TYRE AND EGYPT.

Solomon came to the throne, when the country was in a profound peace; which lasted, with but slight interruption, during his long reign. He began his reign in the spirit of that solemn charge which he received from the lips of a dying father. It is said of him that “he loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father; only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.” It will be remembered, that while the ark was brought to Jerusalem, the tabernacle and the brazen altar remained at Gibeon. Thither the young king, having called his chief men, went, to commence his reign, with a solemn public sacrifice to God; for that was the great high place, and there Solomon “ofi’ered a thousand burnt-ofierings.” On the night following the sacrifice, God appeared to him in a dream, and said, “Ask what I shall give thee.” And Solomon said, “Thou hast showed unto David thy great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee. And now, 0 Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king, in stead 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 between good and bad; for who is able to judge this thy so great a people.” The petition of Solomon was peculiarly acceptable to God, and God said, “Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life, but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king; behold, I have done according to thy words: I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart, and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like. And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and ray commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.” After this answer to his prayer, Solomon awoke from his vision, returned to Jerusalem, and oifered burnt-oficrings before the ark of the Lord, and made a feast to all his servants.

The gift which Solomon had received, he had immediate occasion to exercise. There were two women dwelling alone, in the same house, each with an infant child. Through the neglect of the mother, the child of the one died. Aware of her loss, she arose at midnight, and went and exchanged her dead son for the living one of her companion. The true mother of the living child brought her complaint before the king, and claimed her son. But the other denied her crime. Each one claimed the living as her own. There appears to have been no evidence of any kind, by which the controversy could be decided. Solomon saw that the only way to determine it was by an appeal to the instinctive affection of a mother for her offsprino-. And the king said, “Bring a sword, and divide the living %hild in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” But the heart of the real mother answered at once to the appeal, “and she said, 0 my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it; while the other said, Divide it.” The wise pi? n of the king succeeded, and he gave sentence, “Give her* the living child, and in no wise slay it; she is the mother thereof. And all Israel heard of the judgment, and feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.”

While this was taking place, the restless spirit of Adonijah was again at work. In his extreme old age, David, by the advice of his servants, had taken Abishag the Shunamite among the number of his wives. Her beauty attracted the love of Adonijah, and he came to Bathsheba, and urged her to ask from the king Abishag for his wife. The design of this request appears in the way he urges his suit. “Thou knowest,” he said, “that the kingdom was mine, howbeit, it is now turned and become my brother’s, for it was his from the Lord.” Adonijah knew well that the request was a treasonable one, and thus Solomon understood it. For when his mother urged the request of Adonijah, he replies, “Why dost thou ask Abishag for him? ask also the kingdom.” Solomon immediately adopted the most stringent measures, and treats his brother as a condemned traitor. “God do so to me and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life.” And he sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, “and he fell upon him that he died.” This was certainly summary justice; if indeed any state policy can make such arbitrary measures fall under the name of justice. But it is difficult for us to enter fully into all that was implied in Adonijah’s suit; and it would seem probable, that there were other signs of his treasonable disposition,

which led Solomon so instantly to punish. This probability is incx’eased, by the fact that Abiathar and Joab — Adonijah’s supporters in his former conspiracy — are here again connected with him. Their punishment immediately follows. Abiathar was banished to his own possessions, at Anathoth, and deprived of his priestly office — a fulfilment of the threatening of God to Eli, “that the priesthood should depart from his house.” Abiathar was the last priest of the house of Ithamar, (of which family Eli was,) and the priesthood returned again to the house of Eleazar, in the person of Zadok.

When Joab heard that his partners were punished, he fled unto the “tabernacle of Jehovah, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.” Benaiah was sent to bring him from his sanctuary, but Joab refused. He trusted to escape justice, through the protection of the altar. Solomon, however, well understood that the altar could be no sanctuary for the hardened criminal. Benaiah was again despatched to go and slay him, even at the altar; “that thou may est take away the innocent blood from me, and from the house of my father, which Joab shed, who fell upon two men more righteous than he.” So Benaiah went as commanded, and fell upon the “hoary criminal,” and slew him, and he was buried in his own house, in the wilderness. Thus fell David’s wicked but bravest general. Justice had at length overtaken him, and a broken law was executed.

As Zadok was made priest in the room of Abiathar, so Benaiah was placed in the room of Joab, as captain of the host.

With the crushing of this conspiracy, Solomon’s throne was established in peace. Around him were gathered, as chief men and counsellors, the sons of his father’s friends. “Over the tribute were twelve general officers, whose charge it was to provide for the royal household; for every day thirty measures of fine flour, and sixty of meal, thirty oxen and an hundred sheep,” besides other things in like profusion. The whole nation enjoyed an unparalleled state of happiness and prosperity. His kingdom swelled into vast dimensions — “from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates, and from Dan to Beersheba: Judah and Israel were many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry; and every man dwelt safely under his vine, and under his fig-tree.”

In the midst of this worldly prosperity Solomon remained faithful in his attachment to the true faith, and to the charge which had been laid upon him. “He determined to build the temple for the name of the Lord, and an house for his kingdom.” “Of those who were strangers in the land, seventy thousand men were numbered to bear burdens, and eighty thousand to hew in the mountain, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.” While engaged in these preparations he received an embassy from Hiram, king of Tyre, congratulating him upon his coming to the throne. An alliance had existed between this king and David. Their territories lay contiguous, and were mutually necessary for each other. Salomon entered readily into the kind designs of Hiram, and a league and treaty of commerce was made between them which lasted throughout their days.

To the embassy of Hiram, Solomon replied, “Thou knowest that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the Lord his God, for the wars which were about him on every side. But now the Lord my God hath given me rest, and I purpose to build an house to the Lord my God, as the Lord spake unto David my father. And the house which I build is great, for great is our God above all gods. But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I, then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him? Send me now, therefore, a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, that can skill to grave with the men that are with me, whom David my father did provide. Send me also cedar-trees, fir-trees, and almug-trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants, even to prepare me timber in abundance. And behold I will give to thy servants twenty thousand measures of wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and an equal number of baths of oil and of wine.” Hiram entered cordially into the plans of Solomon. He seems to have been a worshipper of the true God: at least he recognized fully his gracious providence. “Because the Lord hath loved his people, he hath made thee king over them;” and he adds, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding to build an house for Jehovah.” At the same time he consented fully to the treaty stipulations which Solomon had proposed. The Tyrians were to cut the timber of cedar and fir, and deliver it at Joppa, the nearest seaport to Jerusalem; and the Hebrews were to deliver, in turn, the grain, and oil, and wine, which had been agreed upon. A man skilful in all the curious works which were to adorn the temple, was found and sent to Jerusalem. He was of mixed descent; his father a Tyrian, and his mother of the daughters of Dan — of the same name with the Tyrian king.

Solomon immediately raised a levy of “thirty thousand men,” and sent them to Lebanon, “ten thousand a month by courses, to aid the Tyrians in hewing the timber, and squaring the vast blocks of stone.” The work was thus fairly commenced, although as yet the ground had not been broken upon which that splendid structure was so noiselessly to rise.

From the alliance with Tyre, Solomon turned his attention to Egypt, and entered into a treaty with Pharaoh. A matrimonial alliance was formed, and he took the daughter of Pharaoh “to wife, and brought her into the city of David.” The result of this alliance, formed in direct violation of the command of God, was by no means happy; indeed, in the progress of his history, we find it producing the most lamentable defection and apostacy.

SECTION XL

THE TEMPLE, ITS FURNITURE, THE DEDICATION — GOD APPEARS A SECOND TIME

TO SOLOMON,

Having thus gathered the materials, “in the four hundred and eightieth year after the Exodus out of Egypt, in the fourth year of his reign, in the second month, the month Zif, Solomon began to build the house of the Lord.” The site of the temple is fixed in Chronicles, “Solomon began to build at Jerusalem, in mount Moriah, where the Lord appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing-floor of Araunah, the Jebusite.” Mount Moriah was situated in the south-eastern quarter of Jerusalem. It was a steep eminence, whose summit was not at first sufficient for the buildings of the temple. On its precipitous sides walls were built up, and the interval filled in with earth, to increase the level surface. The stones in this foundation were of great magnitude, and some of them remain until the present time. The dimensions and proportions of this renowned structure have been the subject of much dispute. According to the first account, it was “sixty cubits in length, twenty cubits broad, and thirty high.” The second account adds, “that the porch was one hundred and twenty cubits high,” while the Jewish historian, Josephus, gives its height as sixty cubits. There is no difficulty whatever in the Scripture accounts; the one gives the height of the body of the building, the other that of the porch. The porch stood at the eastern extremity of the building. At the entrance of the porch were the two brazen pillars — “Jachin on the right, and Boaz on the left.” These pillars were cast eighteen cubits high, and twelve cubits in circumference. Chapiters, or capitals, five cubits high, were placed upon the pillars. Around these were wreaths of net-work and chain-work. These chapiters were wrought “with lily-work, and pomegranates, two hundred, in rows round about the chapiter. Two wreaths encircled each chapiter, and two rows of pomegranates were upon each wreath.” The pillars were not used for support, but for ornament, and were probably emblematical.

The temple was surrounded by three stories of chambers, “each one of which was five cubits high.” The lower chamber was five cubits broad, the middle six, and the upper one seven. As the walls went up they were not so thick, and the increased width of the chambers arose from the rests or oifsets in the wall. The entrance of these chambers was probably from without, “for the door for the middle was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle-chamber, and out of the middle into the third.”

“Above the chambers were the windows of narrow lights.” The temple was built of “stone made ready before it was brought to the place, (so that there was neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool of iron, heard in the house while it was in building.”) The stone, however, were covered with boards of cedar, and the cedar overlaid with pure gold.

The walls within, and the ceiling, were lined with cedar, and the floor was covered with planks of fir. The walls, also, were overlaid with gold, and ornamented with “carvings of palms, and flowers, and cherubims,” “and garnished with precious stones.” The upper row of chambers were also overlaid with gold. Coming within the temple we find it divided into two apartments — “the holy, and the most holy, or holy of holies.” “The holy was forty cubits long,” with the width of the temple, “and the most holy twenty cubits square.” A wall of cedar separated these, which, like the other walls of the temple, was overlaid with gold, and covered with cherubims and flowers.

The walls and the floors of the most holy were covered with pure fine gold, amounting “to six hundred talents, and the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold.” The doors of the outer temple were made of fir and hung upon posts of olive-trees, with hinges of gold; but the doors of the oracle, or most holy, were entirely composed of olive. Both doors were made “with folding leaves, and richly adorned with cherubims, and palm-trees, and open flowers, and covered with pure gold.” By the door between the holy and most holy, which was most probably left open, “hung the veil of blue, and purple, and crimson, and fine linen, with cherubims wrought thereon.”

Within the oracle were “two cherubims, each ten cubits high. Their wings were five cubits each: from the uttermost part of the one wing to the uttermost part of the other were ten cubits. Both cherubims were of one size. They were placed upon their feet, with their faces inward; so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. The cherubims were overlaid with gold.” These were distinct from, and much larger than those which overshadowed the mercy-seat. Within the holy of holies stood only the ark of the covenant; and here the priest alone entered once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people. The veil which concealed it from the gaze of the people was not yet rent: the Holy Ghost thus signifying that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while the first tabernacle was yet standing.

Without the veil, within the holy place, “stood the golden altar of incense.” In place of the single candlestick, which was in the tabernacle, “there were ten candlesticks of gold, with their lamps and flowers, five on the right side of the holy place, and five on the left.” There were also ten golden tables, five on the right side, and five on the left. “The hundred bowls, and the lamps, and snuffers, and basons, and censers, and spoons, and all the vessels for the house of God, were of pure gold.”

The temple was surrounded “by an inner court, or court of the priests; built with three rows of hewed stone, and a row of cedar beams.” According to Josephus, this court was three cubits high. In this court, on the right side of the temple, eastward, over against the south, was placed the molten sea. This immense brazen laver, “was five cubits high, ten in diameter, and thirty in circumference. It contained two thousand baths.”* It was supported by twelve brazen oxen, three looking toward each quarter of the compass. “It was an hand-breadth thick, and the brim of it was wrought with the flowers of lilies: and below the brim it was enriched with varied devices.” This sea was for the personal and ceremonial ablutions of the priests. Besides this molten sea, there were ten lavers standing upon ten brazen bases, used for the cleansing of the sacrifices. The bases were regarded as master-pieces of art. They were four cubits square, and three cubits high; surrounded with borders of carved lions, oxen, and cherubim. Beneath the borders were other ornaments, which are not described. Each base was mounted upon brazen rollers, or wheels. The lavers which were placed upon the bases, were four cubits, and contained forty baths. They were arranged five on each side of the court. In this court also stood, most probably, the brazen altar which Solomon made, twenty cubits long, and twenty cubits broad, and ten cubits high.

Besides this inner court, there was still another grea,t court, or outer court, or as it was called in later periods, “the court of the Lord’s house.” Still beyond this, there were added spacious buildings, or porticos; some built by Solomon, and others at a later period.

“The castings and vessels of the temple, were made by Hiram, the Tyrian, in the plain of Jordan, in the clay ground between

* In Chronicles it is 3000. It was probably capable of containing the larger amount; but usually held the smaller.

Succoth and Zartlian.” “Solomon was seven years in building the temple.”

The sanctuary, or temple itself, was not so celebrated for its size, as for its magnificence. Standing on a lofty summit, easily seen from all directions, covered with gold, and adorned with the most costly materials; it must have been not only a conspicuous, but a splendid object. It was no doubt an object of admiration to every beholder; but glorious as it stood, its true glory was yet wanting. That which made it not only to be admired, but reverenced by every Israelite, was yet to enter it.

Solomon having thus completed the building, and brought in the consecrated things, assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers, unto Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord, out of Zion, the city of David. And all the elders of Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon, at the feast, in the seventh month. The priests and Levites took up the ark, and brought it and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all “the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, did they bring up. And the priests brought the ark into its place, into the oracle of the temple, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubim. And they drew out the staves, so that the ends of them were seen in the holy place before the oracle. While this was going on, Solomon and all the congregation were sacrificing before the ark; and the Levites which were singers, of Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun, with their brethren, arrayed in their priestly garments, stood at the east end of the (brazen) altar, sounding with trumpets. And it came to pass, as the priests came out from the temple, and all the singers as one, made one sound in praising and thanking God; when they lifted up their voices, with trumpets, and cymbals, and instruments of music, saying. For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that, then, the house was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister, by reason of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.” He for whom the temple had been built, had come, and taken possession of his dwelling.

“Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in thick darkness. I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abide in for ever. And the king turned his face, and blessed all the congregation of Israel, (for they were all standing.) Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it. I am risen up in the room of my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, -which he made with our fathers when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.” “Then spreading his hands toward heaven, he said, Lord God of Lsrael, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart; who hast kept with thy servant David, my father, that thou promisedst him: thou spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thy hand, as it is this day. Therefore, now, Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David, my father, that thou promisedst him, saying. There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded? Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, 0 Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee this day. That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place. And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven, thy dwelling-place: and when thou hearest, forgive. If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him, and the oath come before thine altar, in this house, then hear thou in heaven, and do and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, and justifying the righteous. When thy people Israel be smitten before their enemies, because of their sin, and turn again, and confess thy name, and pray unto thee: then hear thou in heaven, and forgive their sin, and bring back thy people into the land of their fathers. When the heaven is shut up because of their sin, if they pray toward this place, then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants; that thou may teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon the land of their inheritance. If there be in the land famine, pestilence, or whatsoever plague or sickness, whatsoever prayer shall be made by any man or thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, then hear thou and forgive, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowost, (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men,) that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land ^hich thou gavest their fathers. Moreover, concerning a stranger, when he shall come and pray toward this house, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all the people of the earth may know thy name to fear thee. If thy people go out to battle, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and pray toward this house, hear thou their prayer and maintain their cause. If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with

them, and deliver them into captivity: if, then, they shall bethink themselves, and repent, and make supplication, saying, We have sinned and done perversely; and so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, and pray toward this house; then hear thou their prayer, and forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive; for they be thy people and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest out of Egypt, for thou didst separate them from all people of the earth, to be thine inheritance. Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attentive unto the prayer that is made in this place. Now, therefore, arise, 0 Lord God, into thy resting-place, thou and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests, 0 Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and thy saints rejoice in goodness. 0 Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.”*

When Solomon had made an end of praying, he rose up from kneeling, “and stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel. Blessed be the Lord that hath given rest unto his people; there had not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers, let him not leave us nor forsake us, that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments. Let your heart, therefore, be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes and keep his commandments, as at this day.”

When this prayer was closed, and the benediction was pronounced, “fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt-offerings and the sacrifices. And when the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord filled the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground, and worshipped, and praised the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.”

“Then the king, and all the people, offered sacrifices before the Lord; and Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace-offerings, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king, and all the people, dedicated the house of the Lord; and the court which was before the

The 47th, 97th, 9Sth, 99th, 100th, and 136th Psalms, were probably composed on this occasion. The last words of Solomon’s prayer may be found, with some variations, in the 132d Psalm.

Iiouse; for there he offered burnt-offerings, for the brazen altar was too small for the number of the offerings.”

On this joyful occasion, Solomon, and all the congregation, from the entering of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, held a feast of fourteen days: seven for the feast of tabernacles, and seven for the dedication. “On the eighth day, or the day after the feast, 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 Israel his people.”* Thus happily was this great work accomplished. God had visibly, by the fire from heaven, accepted the offering of his people. The ark of the covenant, with the glorious Shechinah, found its last resting-place. Jerusalem was the place where God was known; and where, alone, he could safely be worshipped by sacrifices and offerings. From henceforth, the high-places were sinful and idolatrous.

After this the Lord appeared to Solomon, and 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 uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded- thee, and will keep my statutes and judgments: then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, there shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them; 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 by-word among all people: and at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished and hiss; and shall say, Why hath the Lord done this unto this land, and to this house? And they shall answer, Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought forth their fathers out of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them; therefore hath the Lord brought upon them all this evil.” A threatening which was soon fulfilled. Here, as always, we find the promises of God conditional — they are given only upon a covenant; and in the history we shall find that as the condi-

* In Chronicles, it is said that the king dismissed the people on the twenty-third day of the month — which would be the ninth day, or the second after the feast. Some suppose, that a part of the people remained over till the ninth day, and were re-dismissed by the king.

tions on the part of the people were not fulfilled, so they failed to receive the promise. The people whom we now behold so joyful and prosperous in their service of Jehovah, we shall soon see (what the prophetic prayer of Solomon seemed to anticipate) bowing down to idols, and the wretched captives of their foes. This holy temple, now standing unrivalled in its beauty and richness, was soon plundered of its wealth, desecrated by the worship of false gods, a hissing and astonishment among the nations. So true is it that all prosperity, outward as well as inward, depends upon a close adherence to the worship and service of God.

SECTION XII.

SOLOMON’S OTHER BUILDINGS — THE SOURCE OF HIS WEALTH — SOLOMON’S OFFENCE, THE TROUBLES OF HIS LATTER DAYS HIS DEATH.

Solomon’s wealth was mostly expended in building. Besides the temple, he built a palace for himself, which occupied thirteen years in its erection. “He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon,” which was more extensive than the temple, though far less splendid. “Around both these palaces there were large porches,” or colonnades. A peculiarly splendid abode was erected for the queen, the daughter of Pharaoh. All these buildings were of costly stones, of immense size, and covered with cedar. “In the porch of judgment, at the royal palace, was the great throne of ivory, overlaid with pure gold. The ascent to the throne was by six steps, and on each side were stays, and two lions stood beside the stays; and upon the six steps were twelve lions.” In the palace at Lebanon “were two hundred targets of beaten gold, of six hundred shekels each; and three hundred golden shields, of three pounds to each shield. All the vessels of this house, and all Solomon’s vessels, were of pure gold, none were of silver, it was nothing thought of in the days of this king.”

Besides these private palaces, Solomon built and fortified the cities of Gezer, which he had received as a dowry with the queen, Pharaoh’s daughter; Hamath, which he captured; Tadmor in the wilderness; the cities which had been given to Hiram,* and by treaty receded to Israel; “and all the cities of store, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and all that which Solomon desired to build in the land of his dominion.”

* When Hiram came to see the cities which Solomon had given him in the land of Galilee, he was dissatisfied. And as these princes remained on friendly terms, and soon after we find Solomon fortifying these very cities, we must suppose that some other reward had been given to the king of Tyre for his generous assistance, and that the cities of Galilee returned to their former king.

36J: HISTORY OF THE ISRAELITISH NATION

The men who were employed in “these works were the remnant of the Canaanites, whom the children of Israel were unable to destroy. Solomon used these as bondmen in the more laborious and menial parts of his service; while the native Israelites filled the stations of trust and honour. “They were his officers, his men of war, the rulers of his chariots and horsemen, and rulers over those that wrought in the work.”

To carry forward and complete these vast designs, and to maintain the kingdom in all the luxury and splendour in which it was now existing, required a constant influx of wealth. The drain upon the royal treasm-y must have been immense. No resources within the kingdom itself could have furnished anything like an adequate supply. Accordingly, we find the people of Israel, and the king himself, now, for the first time, engaged in foreign commerce. Here again Solomon had recourse to his friend and ally the king of Tyre. As his own subjects were almost entirely an agricultural people, they were unfitted to build or man the ships necessary for this traffic. But by the aid of Iliram the plan was executed. “Solomon fitted out a fleet in Ezion-geber, beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom.” The fleet was manned with a mixed crew of Hebrews and Tyrlans. It sailed to Ophir, and brought thence in gold four hundred and twenty talents to the king. Besides the direct return, in the precious metals, these ships were no doubt laden with the merchandize of the east, which were disposed of all along the shores of the Mediterranean; and thus Palestine became the centre, for a time, of that lucrative trade.*

The king was at the same time engaged in another trade — from Egypt, through his dominions across the Syrian desert, and so on eastward. What were the avails of this trade we are not informed, but it was probably large; as we know from more recent history, that this commerce has always conferred great wealth upon those who were engaged in it. “Linen yarn, horses and chariots, were brought from Egypt, and sold to the Syrians; and Solomon’s servants had a complete monopoly of the whole trade.”

In the course of this traffic, Solomon’s wealth and wisdom became widely known. The splendour of his court attracted the admiration of other monarchs. “And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his heart. And they brought every man his present; vessels of gold, and vessels of silver, and garments, and armour, and spices, and harness, and mules, a rate year by year.” Among

* It seems probable (though it is not certain from the narrative) that Solomon and Hiram had another fleet trading along the coasts of the Mediterranean as far as Tarshish.

otlicrs -who were thus drawn to the king, was the queen of Sheba. Iler territories lay in the southern part of Arabia. When the report of Solomon’s wisdom reached her, she came, with a large retinue, and a present of gold and spices, and precious stones, to prove Solomon with hard questions. Solomon answered all her questions. The impression made upon the queen, by the wisdom of Solomon, and the splendour ot his court, and the temple service, was almost overwhelming. “There was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land, of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit, I believed not their 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. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king to do judgment and justice.”

The whole revenue of the king, from all these sources, was six hundred threescore and six talents* of gold a year, besides that which came from the merchantmen, from the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country. Silver was in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as the sycamore trees for

abundance.

This unexampled tide of prosperity began to have its influence. There are few, perhaps, who could have lived in the midst of such luxury, and wealth, and power, without being corrupted by them. Solomon, at least, with all his wisdom, fell, and fell most lamentably. He has given us his own experience, filled with solemn warnings, in the book of Ecclesiastes. He drank the cup of earthly joys, and left upon record for us the satisfaction which they gave, in that short sentence. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. “But Solomon loved many strange women, beside the daughter of Pharaoh” — women of the surrounding nations, with whom God had expressly forbidden all intermarriage. Solomon clave unto these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. These guilty alliances were not long in producing their result. For when Solomon was old, 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. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians; and after

* The difficulty in regard to the weight of the talent may be removed, by supposing that in the time of Solomon it had no definite weight, but signified a flat piece of metal, which might be larger or smaller, as we use the word ingot. For if we take for a talent the weight assigned to it in the tables, as Prideaux says, the whole house might have been built of solid gold.

Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which sacrificed unto their gods. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord. 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 commanded him concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods. Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes which I commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and give it unto 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. 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.”

We are not informed in the history, what effect this warning had upon the guilty and besotted king. We may gather, however, from the tone of his later writings, that he was brought to true repentance and a happy reformation. It was too late now to avert the calamity which was threatened. The clouds were rapidly gathering around this once happy empire. The scene of peace and prosperity was suddenly overcast. The low mutterings of discontent might be heard. It was beginning to be felt that pomp and outward show did not constitute real happiness. A heavily taxed people were growing restless under their burdens. In these conditions it only needed the sin of Solomon to bring about rebellion and civil war. Nor was this all. Foreign and subject nations were beginning to rouse themselves to resistance. On the south-east, Hadad, of the royal blood of Edom, was troubling the Israelitish king. In the slaughter of the Edomites, by Joab, Hadad, then an infant, had escaped, and flying from one place to another had at last reached Egypt. He grew in favour with the Egyptian king, and eventually married into the royal family. On learning the death of David, he had returned to his own country, and began “a petty warfare which Solomon did not repress.”

On the north, another adversary appeared, in the king of Damascus. Rezon had revolted from Hadadezer king of Zobah, and with a band of followers had made himself master of Damascus, and now reigned there. In the later years of Solomon’s reign, his power began to be formidable. Both these enemies, as we are told, were permitted thus to annoy the king of Israel, as a punishment of his sin.

A more serious enemy, however, arose in the midst of his own kingdom. “Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite, had distinguished himself as a man of valour.” Solomon, seeing his worth, had exalted “him to be a ruler over the house of Joseph.”

From his energy and valour, he had no doubt acquired great influence among the northern tribes. To this person, God sent the prophet Ahijah. As Jeroboam came from Jerusalem, the prophet met him in the field, alone; “and rending his garment into twelve pieces,” delivered his energetic message. “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. Because they have forsaken me, and have worshipped other gods, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, to keep my statutes and my judgments. Howbeit, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hands, he shall have one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem; and I will make him prince, all the days of his life. But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hands and will give it thee, even the ten tribes; and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth. And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my commandments as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee. And I will afflict the seed of David, but not for ever.” This doing of Ahijah soon came to the ears of the king; “and Jeroboam’s life was no longer safe.” He therefore fled into Egypt, unto Shishak, and remained there until the death of Solomon,

In the midst of these thickening calamities, Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. It was well for him that he did not live to see the results of his conduct. He had reigned forty years, with scarcely any thing to check the flow of prosperity. He found the kingdom strong, and apparently containing the elements of perpetuity; he left it in actual decay. He came to the throne in a time of peace; he left it shaken by foreign war, and internal strife. A united people welcomed him to the kingdom, with great joy; he so ruled that few probably mourned over his death. With all his great wisdom, a love of display, a voluptuous life, and a sinful departure from the true God; brought misery upon a happy people, and covered his own name with deep disgrace. And yet few, perhaps, would have stood the test to which he ws subjected, better than Solomon. It is more difiicult to meet the trials of prosperity than of adversity. It is no uncommon thing to see men fail here, who have walked without reproach through the very deepest of afflictions. And the fct that, though he was thus under the power of the world, and his own corruption, he yet, by God’s grace, recovered himself, and died in the fear of God, ought to redeem his character, in some measure, from the reproach under which it lies. At all events, in any just estimate of his character, we must take into account his virtues, as well as his vices; his “wisdom, his generosity, his zeal at first for the worship of God, as well as his love of the world, and his shameful idolatry.

SECTION XIII.

DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM — EEHOBOAM’S REIGN, AND DEATH — JEROBOAM, THE CONTEMPORARY OF REHOBOAM AND ABIJAM.

Solomon left but one son, “Rehoboam, the son of Naamah, an Ammonitess, who was forty-one years old when his father died,” and he prepared to ascend the throne. “All Israel had assembled at Shechem; and thither Rehoboam went to receive the kingdom, and their allegiance. In the mean time, Jeroboam had returned from Egypt, and appeared boldly as a leader among the congregation of the people. Jeroboam, and the congregation through him, demanded a reduction of the taxes, as a condition of their service. “Thy father made our yoke grievous; now, therefore, make thou the service of thy father, and the yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.” Three days were taken for deliberation: during which Rehoboam consulted with his counsellors. The old men who had stood before his father, and were better acquainted with the true condition of things; advised him to treat the request of the people kindly, “and speak good words unto them.” The young men, who had grown up with the king, on the contrary, advised him to return a threatening answer, which should bring the disaffected to submission. When the appointed day came, Rehoboam, following the advice of his young companions, answered the people roughly, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.” The haughty monarch was left to take his own course. There was no sympathy between him and his people. The cruelty of this answer at once crushed every loyal feeling on the part of his subjects. Through his folly and pride, was wrought out, by the providence of God, the prediction which the Lord had spoken, by Ahijah the Shilonite, to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

The words of the king brought things to a crisis. The disaffection, which might have been satisfied by prudent concessions, ripened into rebellion. The people said to the king, “What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, 0 Israel: now see to thine own house, David.” Rehoboam was not at first aware of the extent of the defection; and sent Adoram to collect the tribute.

The excited people “stoned him to death,” and the terrified king fled in haste to Jerusalem. “So Israel rebelled against the house of David; but the cities of Judah remained faithful to their king.” All the northern and eastern tribes took Jeroboam and made him king: and it seems probable, that the tribe of Benjamin was carried away with them; though it soon returned to its allegiance.

The first thoughts of the king were to recover his dominion by war. For this purpose, he collected from Judah and Benjamin an hundred and eighty thousand chosen men. But as he was about to march, Shemaiah the prophet came with a message from God to this infatuated king: “Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren; return every man to his house; for this thing is from me.” The civil war was thus, for a time, averted; they obeyed the word of the Lord, and returned home.

Rehoboam had learned prudence from the severity of the lesson which he had received. Although there was no amity between him and Jeroboam, yet we do not learn that he took any active measures towards regaining his kingdom. Aside from the prohibition of the prophet, there were reasons of state sufficient to keep him from such a hopeless and ruinous undertaking. After his return to Jerusalem, he devoted himself with great energy to fortifying the remnant of the kingdom which remained faithful. He had probably learned the purposes of the king of Egypt; for the towns which he built and garrisoned were chiefly situated in that part of his kingdom lying toward Egypt. Doubtless, also, Hadad the Edomite was becoming more and more formidable.

While Rehoboam was thus preparing himself against any attack from without, he was gradually gaining adherents from the best of the Israelitish kingdom. Grieved at the idolatry of Jeroboam, “the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to Judah and Jerusalem. And after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel, came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers. So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah and Rehoboam, for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.”

Even Judah, however, did not long resist the example of its kings. Solomon had worshipped the gods of his wives; and Rehoboam, probably, followed in the steps of his father, at least so far as his mother’s religion was concerned, and the whole tribe almost immediately lapsed into idolatry and the most abominable sin. “And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and provoked him to jealousy with their sins; for they built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill and under every green tree.” There were also those “who practised the most shocking immoralities, for which the Canaanitish nations had been destroyed from the land. We can hardly believe that those who dwelt almost in sight of the temple, and beneath the protection of Jehovah, should sink so soon into the very lowest depths of sin. But the example of the great was fatally contagious; and there was no strength of principle in the mass of the people to resist it.

A nation so lost to all true religious principle could not expect any longer the protection of God. A rod was prepared for them, which they were soon to feel. “It came to pass, in the fifth year of Rehoboam, Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem, with twelve hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen, and people without number, and took the fenced cities of Judah.” It is probable that Jeroboam persuaded Shishak to undertake this expedition, in order to cripple and embarrass his rival. As the Egyptian host drew near to Jerusalem, Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam, and the princes of Judah, and said, “Thus saith Jehovah, Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak.” The message of the prophet brought the king and princes in humility before God. “And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, he sent the prophet, saying, I will not destroy them, but will grant them some deliverance. Nevertheless they shall be the servants of Shishak; that they may know my service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.” Accordingly the Egyptian king came to Jerusalem, took away the treasures of the temple and of the king’s house, and the golden shields which Solomon had made. For some reason (most probably the submissive reception which Rehoboam had given him) Shishak retired without doing any other serious injury to the kingdom. The real cause of this inexplicable conduct, was the unconscious influence exerted by God upon the mind of the Egyptian king. The time when the kingdom of Judah should be destroyed had not yet come, and Rehoboam was left in the peaceful possession of his throne.

Like his father, Rehoboam had taken a multitude of wives. The favourite queen was Maachah, the daughter or grand-daughter of Absalom. Her son Abijam, or Abijah, was made chief amongst his brethren, and educated as the heir to the throne. After the invasion of Shishak, we hear little more of this king. He replaced the goklen shields with others of brass, which were carried before him when he went to and came from the temple. We know not whether the repentance and humiliation was genuine or not. In some cases it was so, for we are told “that in Judah, things went well;” but whether there was a real change in the life of the king is not certain. The last record we have is, “that he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.” He died, after a reign of seventeen’years, and was buried in the city of David; and Abijam his son reigned in his stead. Rehoboam received the kingdom, embarrassed with the results of Solomon’s luxury and sin. His foolish and haughty answer to the prayer of an oppressed people, brought about the disastrous event which chiefly marks his reign. In his later years he appears as a prudent, but irreligious king; and left his diminished kingdom in a prosperous condition, and under an efficient government, to his son Abijam.

Meanwhile Jeroboam was not at all fulfilling the charge which Ahijah had given him. Immediately after his election to the throne of Israel, he built Shechem, as the capital of his kingdom, and Penuel on the east of Jordan, to secure the allegiance of the eastern tribes. His next care was to provide for the people a religion. He feared that the people, if they were allowed to go and sacrifice in the temple at Jerusalem, would return in their affections to Rehoboam. He therefore devised a political religion by which he hoped to retain the hearts of his subjects. “He made two calves of gold, (such doubtless as he had seen worshipped during his exile in Egypt,) and said to the people. It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, 0 Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Dan, and the other at Bethel,” at the northern and southern extremes of the kingdom. The plan became a sin to Israel. The people fell in readily with the suggestion of Jeroboam. Solomon’s idolatry had, no doubt, prepared them for such a step. He appointed likewise priests out of the house of Levi. He ordained feasts like those which God had commanded by Moses, but upon different days. “So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel, in the month which he had devised in his own heart, and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel.”

While Jeroboam “stood at the altar burning incense, there came out of Judah a man of God, by the word of the Lord, and cried against the altar, 0 altar, altar! thus saith the Lord, Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee; and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.” “And he gave a sign. Behold, the altar shall be rent and the ashes shall be poured out.”

Jeroboam ordered him to be arrested, but the arm of the king, which he put forth against him, was withered. And the altar was rent, as had been predicted. The astonished monarch now asks the man of God to pray that his hand might be restored. And he besought the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored as before. Jeroboam now asked the man who bad warned him to come and share bis bospitality. “But the man of God said, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee; for so was it cbarged me by the Lord, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou earnest.” It will be remembered that Bethel was the seat of a school of the prophets. Tbe sons of an old prophet, who dwelt there, overheard the conversation between the man of God and the king, and told their father. The old prophet immediately pursued after the man of God, and found him resting under an oak. Under the pretence that he had received a message from God to this effect, he persuades him to return, and eat and drink at his house. AY bile they were yet at the table, the word of the Lord came, denouncing punishment upon the man of God for his disobedience, in returning and eating in the house of the false prophet. The sentence was almost instantly executed. As he was returning after the meal, a lion met him in the way, and slew him, and there stood sentinel over his carcass, until intelligence was carried into the city; and the old false prophet came and took the body of the man he bad seduced, and carried him to the city for burial. And they buried him, and mourned over him, saying, Alas! my brother. After the burial, the old prophet cbarged bis sons that they should bury him in the sepulchre with the man of God: “lay my bones beside his bones; for the saying which he cried, by the word of the Lord, against the altar of Bethel, and against all the high places in Samaria, shall surely come to pass.” All these miracles, and even the death of the true prophet for bis disobedience, made no lasting impression upon Jeroboam. He still went on in his evil way. “And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, to destroy it from off the face of the earth.” We have no full account of the mode in which Jeroboam administered his government. From his known energy and bravery, we may judge that be did not lose any part of bis kingdom without a struggle. Tbe only other incidents recorded in his history, occur in the reign of Abijam, king of Judah.

Abijam succeeded to the throne of Judah without any commotion. His reign was short and without any great interest. The only memorable thing recorded of him, is the battle so disastrous to Jeroboam. It was not to be expected that these rival kingdoms, though bound together by in any ties, could yet remain long without war. During the reign of Rehoboam, both kings had other objects which demanded their attention. Neither had the time nor the means to attack the other. They were fully employed in securing their own kingdoms, without molesting others. Still there was no cordial friendship between them. On the first opportunity the smothered enmity breaks out into open war. The contest terminated, for the present, in a single and bloody battle. Abijam led out an army of four hundred thousand chosen men. Jeroboam met him with an army twice as large, all mighty men of valour. The armies met in Zemaraim, in mount Ephraim. In the presence of both armies, Abijam asserts the justice of his cause, and encourages his followers with the assurance that Jehovah would fight for them. “Hear me, thou Jeroboam, and all Israel. Ought ye not to know that the Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom to David for ever? Yet Jeroboam hath rebelled against his lord, and gathered to himself vain men, the children of Belial. And now ye think to withstand the kingdom of the Lord in the hands of. the sons of David. Have ye not made golden calves for gods, and cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron. But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him, and the priests, the sons of Aaron, wait upon their service; and burn unto the Lord offerings and incense, and keep the charge of the Lord our God,* And behold God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests to cry alarm against you. 0 children of Israel, fight not against the Lord God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper.” This address, no doubt, had its intended effect. It must have difpirited the forces of Jeroboam. They were not so far lost to their former religion that they could array themselves against God with clear consciences, or stout hearts. They at first surrounded the men of Judah; but at the shout of the battle they fled, and God delivered them into the hand of Judah. “There fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men.” As the fruit of the victory Abijam took the cities of Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephrain, all bordering towns between Benjamin and Ephraim. “Thus the children of Israel were brought under, for a time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers.”

Abijam reigned only three years, “and walked in the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God. Yet for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem.” With this short and melancholy record Abijam’s history terminates. He was buried in the city of David, and Asa his son reigned in his stead.

Jeroboam never recovered from the shock of that disastrous battle. His enerv and courage failed him. He doubtless felt that the hand of God was upon him. For just previous to

* This artful speech was true in the main; but conies with an ill grace from Abijam, who was only an indifferent character. It was true, however, that the temple service was continued, and doubtless many of the people of Judah were sincere worshippers of the true God j while Israel was very generally corrupted with the idolatry of Jeroboam.

this, or at this time, he had received that startling message from the prophet who had anointed him, threatening the utter destruction of his whole family. The occasion upon which he received it was the following. His favourite son, Abijah, was dangerously ill, and the anxious father sent his wife, disguised, to the aged prophet Ahijah, to learn what should be the fate of the child. As the mother came to the door, the prophet (previously informed by God of her coming) salutes her as the wife of Jeroboam, and delivers his message of woe. “Go, tell Jeroboam, thus saith the Lord, forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel; and thou hast not kept my commandments, and followed me with all thy heart, therefore I will bring evil and utter destruction upon the house of Jeroboam. Him that dieth in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the Lord hath spoken it. And when thy feet enter into the city the child shall die. And all Israel shall mourn over him; and he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel. Moreover, the Lord shall raise him up a king who shall cut oflf the house of Jeroboam. 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,i|?hich he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the Lord to anger; because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.” As the stricken mother came to her beautiful palace at Tirzah, the child died; and they buried him, and all Israel mourned, according to the word of the Lord.

Suffering under the loss of his army, and sick at heart with the death of his son, and the woes to come in the future, Jeroboam, after a reign of twenty-two years, died, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead. Jeroboam was a brave man, but not a great one. His sole object was to prevent the re-union of the tribes. In doing this, he committed the grand error and sin of his life. He lacked entirely trust in God. He did not recognize, in any sense, his subordination to God, as the real King of Israel. He attempted, like Saul, to rule the kingdom upon mere worldly principles, and in doing this, he fell into sin, and the sin brought with it swift destruction.

SECTION XIV.

THE GOOD REIGN OF ASA — CONTEMPORARY KINGS OF ISRAEL — NADAB, BAASHA, ELAH, ZIMRI, (OMRI AND TIBNI,) OMRI ALONE, AHAB.

Asa came to the throne of Judah at a propitious moment. The victory of Abijam had materially increased the strength of the kingdom. Its consequences were felt during the first ten years of Asa’s reign, in a happy peace. Asa began his reign in a totally different spirit from his two predecessors. “He did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did David his father. He took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed the idols that his fathers had made.” So thorough was the reformation, that the queen-mother (or grandmother) was removed from her authority, and her idol destroyed. But the high places at which Jehovah was worshipped were not removed. “Nevertheless, his heart was perfect with the Lord all his days; and he brought the things which his father had dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, into the temple, and commanded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment.” The happy consequences of this reformation were everywhere visible. The Lord gave the land rest. The pious king brought around him all the real worshippers of Jehovah in the land. They flocked to his standard with great enthusiasm. His enrolled soldiers were five hundred and eighty thousand, all mighty men of valour. This scene of quiet was soon changed by a threatened invasion from the south. Zerah the Ethiopian (or Cushite) came against him with a numerous host, stated as a million of men, with three hundred chariots. Relying upon Jehovah, Asa went out to meet him, and set the battle in array, in the valley of Zephathah. “And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, Lord, it is nothing for thee to help, whether with many or with them who have no power: help us, 0 Lord our God, for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. 0 Lord, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.” This prayer was heard. The multitude of the Cushites were destroyed before the Lord, and before his host, and Asa and the people pursued them even unto Gerar. “And they smote the cities round about Gerar, (for the fear of the Lord came upon them,) and took away very much spoil, and sheep and camels in abundance.”

As the victorious host of Judah were returnino; with their spoil, they were met by the prophet Azariah, the son of Oded, with this encouraging message: “Hear ye me, Asa, and Judah, and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while ye be with him; and if ye seek him he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him he will forsake you. For a long season Israel (Judah) hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. But when they, in their trouble, did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them. In those times God did vex them with adversity. Be ye strong, therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.” Encouraged by this message, Asa addressed himself with new energy to extirpate idolatry. Many strangers from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, fell to him out of Israel. Then these, with all Judah and Benjamin, “in the fifteenth year of Asa, entered into covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul; that whosoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel, should be put to death, whether small or great. And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire: and he was found of them, and the Lord gave them rest round about.”

This was a genuine and lasting revival. So far, Asa’s reign was one of the happiest of the kings of Judah. But, in his later years, his faith failed him. When Baaslia-, king of Israel, came and took Ramah, and built and fortified it, “to the intent that he might let none go out or come in to the king of Judah,“* Asa, the conqueror of Zerali, whose faith had taught him that God could help alike with few or many, now employed the wealth of the temple and the royal treasures to induce the king of Syria to come to his aid, by attacking Baasha. Benhadad, the Syrian king, hearkened to his request, and sent an army against the king of Israel. The plan succeeded. Baasha, when he heard of the Syrian invasion, left building of Ramah, and went to protect his own dominions. With the materials which Baasha had accumulated, Asa built Geba and Mizpah. The unhappy king thus removed his enemy, but incurred the reproof of Hanani the seer. Reminding the king of his former faith and consequent victory, he charges him with the present defection: “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in behalf of those whose heart is perfect towards him. Herein thou hast done foolishly,

* In the Chronicles it is said that this took place in the 3Gth year of Asa; but Baasha died in Asa’s 26th year. We must therefore suppose that the time was reckoned from the division of the kingdom, or that a mistake has crept into the account of the chronicler. The first supposition would agree very well with the history, but apparently conflicts with the statement that the peace lasted until Asa’s 35th year. But it” we make this date also to count from the division, then all will be clear. In favour of this may be urged, that Baasha’s attack seems to have been prompted by the passing over of so many to covenant with Asa to serve the Lord: which took place in the Both year after the separation. We cannot be certain, however, where the mistake lies. It may easily have entered in the course of so many yearsj and many transcriptions.

therefore from liencefortli thou shalt have wars.” Enraged at the bohi reproof of the prophet, Asa put him in prison; and, it is added, he oppressed some of the people at the same time, probably those who had disapproved of his conduct. During the last three years of his reign, Asa suffered from disease, but he sought only to the physicians, and not to the Lord for relief. His afflictions seem, for a time at least, to have hardened him more than to correct his faults. He found it easier to relax his hold upon God than to regain it. After three years of suffering, and in the forty-first year of his reign, Asa slept with his fiithers, and was buried in his own sepulchre, in the city of David, with a costly and magnificent funeral.

Asa was one of the few kings who obtained the praise that he walked in the steps of David his father. His sincere and prudent zeal against the idolatry of his fathers, and the thoroughness with which he carried out the reformation, entitle him to a place among the best of the kings. He kept steadily in view his true position, as the vicegerent of God, who was the real King of his people. He acted generally from conscience, and not from policy. And though his latter years are stained with unbelief and cruelty, yet we cannot but hope that he lived to repent of his errors, and died in the spirit and blessings of that covenant: “to seek the Lord God of his fathers with all his heart.”

We return to the kingdom of Israel. Li the second year of Asa, Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, began to reign over Israel. He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father. Early in his reign, he marched with a large army into the country of the Philistines, and laid siege to Gibbethon. The siege was cut short by the assassination of the king. Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the tribe of Issachar, rose up against him and slew him, and all his house, until the word of the Lord concerning Jeroboam was fulfilled. Nadab reigned but one year and part of the second; a part of the year being counted as a whole. The dynasty of Jeroboam perished with Nadab.

There does not appear to have been any serious opposition to the designs of Baasha. He succeeded immediately to the honour and power of the king he had murdered. His reign began during the third year of Asa; and he also did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way and sin of Jeroboam. We know little of his reign, except the war with Asa, which ended with the affair at Ramah. We may gather from the account of this event, however, that he had formed an alliance with Benhadad the king of Syria (Damascus). This was probably formed in the early part of his reign. His kingdom thus secure on the north, he turned his arms against Judah, but was called back by the faithless conduct of Benhadad, who, taking the bribe of Asa, had invaded the kingdom of Israel. In the latter part of his life, he also received a warning from God, by the mouth of Jehu the son of Hanani, in like terms with that sent to Jeroboam, and threatening the destruction of his whole house as a punishment for his sin; for he also made Israel to sin. It is worthy of notice that these men, and the other wicked kings, were not punished alone for their own sin; but for their influence in drawing away the people of God from his service. It would be well if this lesson were borne in mind by those placed in stations of trust and honour. After a reign of twenty-four years, Baasha died, and was buried in Tirzah, (now a royal city,) and Elah his son reigned in his stead.

Elah gave himself up to drunkenness and revelling. His army, under Omri, were sent against Gibbethon, from which the Israelites had retired when his father Baasha murdered Nadab. In the second year of his reign, Zimri, captain of half his chariots, while Elah was drinking himself drunk in the house of the steward, at Tirzah, slew him, and usurped his authority. As soon as Zimri was seated on the throne, he slew the whole house of Baasha, and “left it utterly desolate.” Thus expired another of the Israelitish dynasties.

Zimri did not long enjoy the reward of his crimes. So soon as the army at Gibbethon learned that Elah was slain, and the throne usurped by the traitor, they made their general, Omri, king. The siege of Gibbethon was again raised. Omri, with the army, marched to Tirzah, and took the city, after a short siege. Zimri fled to the royal palace, “and burnt the king’s house over him with fire,” and died, for his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the Lord. The murder of Elah, the election of Omri by the army, the march to Tirzah, and the suicide of the murderer, occupied only seven days. Omri did not come to the throne without opposition. The nation were divided into two equal parts, “half of the people followed Tibni son of Ginath, and half followed Omri.” After a long conflict, Tibni was conquered. He was unable to cope with the superior generalship and disciplined forces of his rival, and Omri became sole occupant of the throne. There was no principle involved in all these strifes. And though God in his providence used one of these men to punish another, and thus wrought out his holy purpose; yet they were actuated only by the most selfish and cruel lust of power. No one of them appears to have had a thought of any religious reformation. All were alike firmly wed to their idolatry.

Omri came to the throne without any great crime. He reigned in all twelve years, from the twenty-seventh to the thirty-eighth year of Asa. Eive of these years were spent in the war with Tibni. The only thing recorded* of Omri, aside from his religious character — which was worse than any of the kings before him — is the selection of a new capital. Tirzah was incapable of sustaining any siege. Omri himself had taken it almost by storm. He accordingly purchased a hill from Shemer, from whom the city took its name, Samaria. This important city was finely situated, both for strength and beauty. The hill upon which it was placed, rose from the centre of a large plain. The surrounding country was fertile and highly cultivated: and the strength of the place may be best learned from the siege it sustained in the subsequent history of this kingdom. After completing this work, Omri died, and was buried in Samaria. Ahab his son reigned in his stead.

Ahab was both a weak and wicked king. It is recorded of him, “that he did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings that went before him.” The sin of the previous monarchs of Israel consisted in the worshipping of the true God by images. In addition to this, Ahab, having married Jezebel, the daughter of Eth-baal, king of the Zidonians, went and worshipped false gods — Baal and Ashtoreth (Astarti.)* He built a temple and altar to these gods in his capital. The abominable and obscene rites which accompanied the worship of these idol gods, could not but outrage the feelings of every true Israelite. The prophets were unsparing in their rebukes, and consequently incurred the deadly hatred of Jezebel. She took it upon herself to defend the worship and priests of Baal; and Ahab, who was the slave of this haughty woman, gave her the weight of his authority. Now began the martyr age of the prophets. There were large numbers of them at this time in Israel. One man (Obadiah, the governor of the king’s house) concealed and sustained an hundred. Many were murdered. More probably fled into the neighbouring kingdom. Everything went as Jezebel wished. The weak king publicly worshipped her idols; and the whole nation, apparently, bowed the knee to Baal.

From an allusion, in the later history, it appears that he must either have been at war with Syria (Damascus) or else have tamely submitted to his authority. For Benhadad boasts to Ahub that his father had made streets in Samaria. A little incident occurred in the reign of Ahab, showing clearly the fulfilment of the divine threatenings. Notwithstanding the curse of Joshua, a man by the name Hiel determined to rebuild Jericho. “He laid the foundation thereof in Abiram, his first-born, and set up the gates in his youngest son Segub.”

t It is generally believed that Baal and Astarti were personifications of the sun and moon, the most ancient idolatry of the eastern nations.

SECTION XV.

AHAB’S REION CONTINUED — HISTORY OF ELIJAH THE PROPHET — AHAB’S WAR WITH

BENHADAD — THE SIN OF AHAB — THE EEION OF JEHOSHAPHAT, KING OF JUDAH

THE DEFEAT AT RAMETH JEHOSH APHAX’S CIVIL GOVERNMENT HIS COMMERCE

HIS WAR WITH MOAB AND AMMON.

In this sad state of the kingdom, the prophet Elijah appears before us. This great and bold reformer breaks in upon us, as he probably did upon the idolatrous king, without any warning, and with that startling message.* “And Elijah the Tishbite said to Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these three years, but according to my word.” With this message ringing in his ears, he left the guilty king. He knew what was to be expected from the merciless disposition of Jezebel. “And the word of the Lord came to him, saying. Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And thou shalt drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.” Elijah did as commanded, and was fed as was promised. From the want of rain the brook failed, and God, taking care for his faithful servant, “commanded him to go to Zarephath, which belonged to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went, and found the woman at the gate of the city gathering sticks, and called to her to bring him a little water to drink. As she was going for the water, he asked her to bring him a morsel of bread in her hand.” At this request the generous woman was brought to confess her situation. “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 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 thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, nor the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendethrain upon the earth.” She also, in a strong faith, went and did as directed, and to her the promise was abundantly fulfilled.

This was all evidently miraculous. The whole history here contains more miracles than any other part of the sacred his-

* It is worthy of notice that the history of Elijah and Elisha occupy more space than the political history of the kingdom. The same thing is characteristic of the whole history, and shows its design. Only those kings are dwelt upon at any length whose reigns are in some way connected with the religious condition and training of the people. This is the main element in all the books.

tory, if we except the period of the exodus, and the life of our Lord.

While Elijah abode at Zarephath, the only son of the mdow fell sick and died. In her anguish the mother came to the prophet, “and said, What have I to do with thee, 0 thou man of God? Art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?” Moved at the sight of her grief, “Elijah took her son and laid him upon his own bed. And cried unto the Lord, 0 Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord: 0 Lord my God, I pray thee let the child’s soul come to him again.” The Lord heard the voice of Elijah; the child was restored to life, and the astonished mother professes her faith, “by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.” Thus was this woman rewarded for her faith and her kindness to the exiled prophet.

After three years, Elijah, by the command of God, goes to meet Ahab, and declare to him the retui-n of rain. The king had not been quiet in the meantime. Finding the word of the prophet true, and his land suffering from thirst, he had sought for Elijah, and had sent to every kingdom, taking an oath from them that they knew not where he was. It was with no kind intention that Ahab sought Elijah. He had been only hardened by his reproof, and sought his life.

The land was now groaning with a famine. As Elijah went to Ahab, he met Obadiah, a good man, one who feared God in the midst of the general apostacy, and had showed kindness to the persecuted prophets. Obadiah was in office at the court, and was now going in one direction, while the king went in another, in search of water. When Obadiah met the prophet, he fell on his face, and said, “Art thou that my lord Elijah?” He answered, “lam; go tell thy lord, behold, Elijah is here.” Obadiah objected that while he was gone Elijah would disappear, and the disappointed king would slay him in his anger. He Ijleads his former kindness to the prophets, in the persecutions of Jezebel, as a reason why he should not thus be exposed to the cruel tyranny of Ahab. “Then Elijah said, As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself unto him to-day.” Obadiah went and called the king. When Ahab saw Elijah, “he said. Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel: but thou and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.” Then follows the scene between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. At the command of Elijah, Ahab, who was now awed by the miraculous powers of Elijah, gathered all Israel and the false prophets at Carmel. Elijah then appealed unto the people: “How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord he God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. The people answered not a word.” Elijah then proposed that Baal’s prophets should build an altar, and slay the sacrifice: and that he, as the only prophet of the God of Israel, should do the same; and that the God who answered by fire from heaven should alone be worshipped as the true God. The besotted idolatrous priests accepted the proposition. They first built their altar, prepared their sacrifice, and called upon Baal from morning until noon. Elijah then taunted them: “Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or pursuing, or on a journey, or peradventure he is sleeping, and must be awaked.” Provoked by this irony, they lacerated themselves with knives, but to no purpose. When this farce had gone so far that all were satisfied, Elijah called all the people unto him, and repaired the broken altar of the Lord. And took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes, and built an altar, surrounded with a deep trench. Upon the altar were laid the pieces of the victim; and then four barrels of water were poured upon the sacrifice and the altar. To show that there was no fraud, this was done a second and a third time, until the trench was full. Then, at the time of the evening sacrifice, in the calmness and majesty of a simple faith, with no outcries or cuttings, he utters his prayer: “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, 0 Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. 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 in the trench. When the people saw it, they fell on their faces, and said. The Lord he is the God: the Lord he is the God.” While the people were yet under the influence of this astonishing miracle, Elijah commanded them to take these false prophets and slay them at the brook Kishon, which ran at the foot of the mountain. Ahab, no doubt, gave his consent to the sentence of the prophet, which was in accordance with the express command of God’s law. (Deut. xiii. 5.)

He then promised the king that there should be abundance of rain, and went again to the top of Carmel to pray that the promise might be fulfilled. After waiting long, and sending his servant seven times to look for its approach, his prayer was answered, A little cloud arises out of the Mediterranean, gradually covers the heavens with blackness, and pours its waters upon the thirsty earth. And Elijah went with Ahab to Jezreel.

We should think that such a series of miracles would have convinced the wicked Jezebel, or at least have awed her into submission to the service of Jehovah. But the moment she learned the execution of her prophets, she avows her purpose to take the life of Elijah, in revenge. To escape her wrath, the prophet fled into Judah, from thence to Beersheba, and from thence a day’s journey into the desert, toward Sinai. He who had been so bold, and reproved Ahab to his face, was now fearful before the passion of this haughty woman. In despair, at the want of the success he had probably anticipated, he requests that he may die. “It is enough; now, 0 Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.” While in the desert, “an angel touched him, and said, Arise, eat. And he looked, and behold, a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head: and he did eat and drink, and laid down again.” This was repeated a second time, and in the strength of this the prophet went forty days and forty nights, unto Horeb, the mount of God.

In Horeb the Lord appeared to him, with the question, “What dost thou here, Elijah? 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, I only, am left, and they seek my life to take it away.” To the despairing prophet, God revealed himself, in a strong wind, in the earthquake, and in the fire; and after these displays of his power, he came in the still small voice; “and when Elijah heard it he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the mouth of the cave.” The same question was asked as before, and the same answer returned. And the Lord said, “Go to the wilderness of Damascus, and anoint Hazael king over Syria; and Jehu the son of Nimshi king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat prophet in thy room. He that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay; and he that escapeth Jehu shall Elisha slay.” God having thus appointed the instruments by whom he would vindicate his justice, encourages the sinking faith of Elijah, by this unexpected assurance: “I have left me seven thousand in Israel, which have not bowed the knee unto Baal.” So he departed thence and found Elisha ploughing in the field; and he cast his mantle over him; and immediately Elisha left all and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him. He could not mistake or resist the divine impression, which followed the act of Elijah. Like the apostles, at the calling of our Lord, there was no delay or questioning. Elijah now disappears from the history for a time. Doubtless he and his scholar were earnestly engaged in the private duties of their oflfice; building up the schools of the prophets, and strengthening the faith of the true Israel of God.

Daring the general apostacj, and probably led on by the distress of the people in the famine, Benhadad, the king of Syria, invaded the dominions of Ahab. He came with a large number of tributary princes; and advanced, without serious opposition, to the capital itself. Exulting in his succss, he sent messengers to Ahab; “thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also, and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.” The terrified Ahab consented at once to his insulting demands: “I am thine, and all that I have.” Upon this submission Benhadad sends again the former message, with this addition, that his servants should search the palace and houses of Samaria, and take away whatever was desirable to its owner. This outrageous demand gave Ahab the courage of despair. He called a counsel of his ofiicers, and they advised him not to consent. To Benhadad’s demand, he replied, that he would do as at first proposed, but further he could not go. The Syrian king boasts that he would utterly destroy Samaria. “The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me. And the king of Israel answered. Tell him. Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.” Benhadad now prepared to execute his threat, and pressed the siege with vigour.

In this emergency, the prophets, who were always in the true sense patriotic, appeared to encourage the king, whom they knew mainly as a persecutor, but now as the defender of God’s chosen people. One of them assured him, in the name of Jehovah, “Behold, I will deliver .the great multitude of thine enemies into thy hand, this day; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord.” And Ahab said, By whom? The prophet answered, By the young men of the provinces, and that the king himself should lead in the battle. Ahab then numbered two hundred princes, and seven thousand men. With this small force he marched out, and attacked the Syrian host, while engaged in drinking and feasting. Benhadad gave his orders without leaving his cups, that the company of the Israelites should be captured and brought into the camp. But a sudden panic seized his men. A supernatural fear fell upon them, and they were powerless before the Israelites. Benhadad and his host fled, and the king of Israel smote the horses, and chariots, and Syrians, with a great slaughter.

The prophet warned the victorious king to strengthen himself for another attack. The Syrians were not discouraged at their defeat. The battle which they had lost had been fought with chariots, and upon rough ground. The counsellors of

Benliadad advised him to number an army like the previous one, and to meet the Israelites in the plain; where (as they termed them) the gods of the hills would not assist them. At the return of the year, accordingly, Benhadad came with his host, and encamped in Aphek, probably in the great battle-plain of Esdraelon. The children of Israel, who went out to meet them, were like little flocks of kids, while the Syrians filled the land. At this juncture Ahab was again assured of success. “A man of God came to him, and said. Thus saith the Lord, Because they said, The Lord is God of the hills and not God of the valleys, I will deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.” After seven days the Syrians were again defeated, with numerous loss. An hundred thousand men perished in the battle, and twenty-seven thousand by the fall of a wall in Aphek. By the advice of his servants, the boastful Syrian now casts himself upon the mercy of Ahab. Instead of using his victory to break the power of his enemy, and the enemy of God and the true religion, this infatuated king salutes him by the name of brother, and sends him away in peace, with the condition that the cities which his father had taken should be restored, and Ahab should have the right of building streets in Damascus.

Upon this, a prophet, getting another man to wound him, presents himself, covered with ashes and disguised, to the king, with this parable: “Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and behold a man turned aside and brought a man unto me: and said. Keep this man; if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or thou shalt pay a talent of silver. And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone.” The king replied, that the judgment should be according to the agreement. And the prophet, taking the ashes from his face, applied the parable to the king. “Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.” The victorious king, in the midst of his triumphs, returned to Samaria, displeased and sorrowing.

“We now get a glimpse of the private life of this wicked king, and Elijah breaks upon us again with his bold and stern rebukes. Near by the palace of Ahab was the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. Ahab wished to secure it as an addition to his gardens, and offered to purchase it at its value. But it was the inheritance of Naboth, and, by the law of God, could not be alienated. He therefore declined the offers of the king. Vexed at his failure, Ahab went to his palace, and refused to see his friends, or even to eat bread. Jezebel, learning the cause of his grief, and knowing no conscience at any steps which might

386 HISTORY OF THE ISRAELITISH NATIO:!T

reach her ends, regardless of all law, both of God and of humanity, sent her commands to have Naboth slain, under pretence of blasphemy. The rulers were ready to obey her commands. A religious fast was proclaimed, false witnesses were brought to prove the guilt of Naboth; he was condemned and executed, though innocent; and Jezebel went with the welcome intelligence to her childish and pettish husband. And Ahab went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth.

But he was not to enjoy the possession thus wickedly acquired. At the command of God, Elijah went down and found Ahab in his new possession, and said to him, “Hast thou killed and also taken possession? Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. And Ahab said. Hast thou found me, 0 mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee, because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. And Jezebel also shall the dogs eat by the wall of Jezreel.” Upon this rebuke of the prophet, Ahab humbled himself, and apparently repented, though after-events proved it insincere. Yet even this assumed temporary repentance led to a modification of the sentence. Elijah was informed that the evil which was denounced upon Ahab himself, should not come until the days of his son. The remainder of Ahab’s life is inwoven with the history of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, to which we now return.

Jehoshaphat ascended the throne at the age of thirty-five, after the long and prosperous reign of Asa, his father. “He walked in the first ways of David, and sought the Lord God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not after the doings of Israel.” He was still more zealous against the idolatry and sinfulness of the land than Asa. “Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand: and he had riches and honour in abundance.” In the third year of his reign, he established an itinerant ministry of princes and Levites, who went throughout all the cities of Judah, and taught the people out of the book of the law of the Lord. Thus faithful to God, the kingdom of Judah was united and happy, while their brethren of Israel were rent and distracted with civil wars. The fear of the Lord fell upon the neighbouring kingdoms, so that they made no war with Jehoshaphat. The Arabians and Philistines brought large presents and trinkets. AVith a united people at home, and at peace with foreign nations, Jehoshaphat “waxed great exceedingly, and built castles and store cities.” His army was divided into five parts, under five generals, and amounted to one million one hundred and sixty thousand men, men of valour. There were, besides, the forces in actual service as guards of the cities. Under this king, Judah rose to a power and wealth which it had not known since the separation. For more than half his reign, Jehoshaphat was thus contented and prosperous. At length, however, he committed the great mistake of joining himself in affinity with the impious Ahab. He united his son Jehoram in marriage with Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel.

While at the court of the Israelitish king, Ahab proposes that they should unite their forces, to wrest Ramoth-gilead from the hands of the king of Syria.* This was an important place in the country of the eastern tribes. Jehoshaphat accedes to the proposition at once. He was not, however, willing to commence the war without consulting God by the prophets. Ahab gathered his false prophets, and they, of course, gave him the highest assurance of success. Still Jehoshaphat was not satisfied, and, at his request, Ahab sent and called for Micaiah, a prophet of the Lord, at the same time stating that he hated him on account of his faithful reproofs. As the two kings, in royal apparel, were sitting in the gate of Samaria, and the false prophets were vociferously urging them to go to the battle, Micaiah came into their presence. To the question of Ahab, he answered in the words of the false prophets, but in an ironical tone, “Go and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.” Ahab adjured him to tell nothing but the truth, and the prophet answered, “I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep without a shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no master; let them return every man to his house in peace.” Ahab understood this as a discouraging answer, and as an implied reflection upon his weakness, and blamed Micaiah. The prophet then relates a vision which had been made known to him: that God had permitted the false prophets to persuade Ahab to go to Ramoth to die there. To the injuries and insults of the false prophets, this bold man answers only by referring them to the time when his predictions should be fulfilled. The enraged king commands him to be imprisoned until he should come in peace. “And Micaiah said. If thou return at all in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said. Hearken, 0 people, every one of you.” The fearful words of the prophet did not change the purpose of the kings. They marched against Ramoth. In the battle, Ahab, fearing the truth of the prophet’s words, disguised himself, while Jehoshaphat fought as king. Benhadad ordered his oflicers to direct all their efibrts

* Ahab was thus reaping the reward of his morbid clemency to this faithless and ungrateful king. It had not been more than twelve years since Ahab spared hia life, and we find him already in possession of a part of Ahab’s dominions.

against the king of Israel. They accordingly pursued after Jehoshaphat, but, discovering their mistake, turned back to seek Ahab. Ahab’s scheme did not save him. “A certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness, or armour.” (God accomplished his purposes and fulfilled the word of the prophet, even by what we term a random shot.) The battle was obstinately contested till night, when the order was given for every man to seek his city, and every man his country. Ahab died at evening, and was buried in Samaria. The blood from his chariot was given to the dogs, according to the word of Elijah. His son Ahaziah reigned in his stead. Ahab was of a weak, yielding character, and, under the influence of Jezebel, sold himself to work wickedness. His reign is only remarkable as it includes so large a part of the miracles and teachings of Elijah; which, however they failed of producing any permanent eifect upon the mind of the king, must yet have been a great blessing to the seven thousand pious of Israel.

When Jehoshaphat returned from Ramoth, Jehu the son of Hanani met him, and reproved him for his unwise expedition, “Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? therefore is wrath upon thee from the Lord. Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.” He then went through his kingdom, reclaiming those who had wandered from the faith. He established judges in the cities, and charged them “to judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in judgment. Wherefore let the fear of the Lord be upon you, take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.”* A supreme council, composed of priests, Levites, and chief of the fathers, was established at Jerusalem. To these the more important causes were referred for adjudication: and they were charged to deal faithfully and courageously in the fear of Jehovah. Amariah the chief priest was to preside in all religious questions, and Zebadiah, ruler of the house of Judah, in civil matters.

Having thus provided for the administration of justice, Jehoshaphat turned his attention to commerce. He built ships at Ezion-geber, to go to Ophir for gold. That port, and the intervening country, were still under the power of Judah. At first he allowed the king of Israel to take part in the enterprise. For this the ships were broken. Taught by the prophet Eliezer as to the cause of the misfortune, Jehoshaphat declined any

* It seems most probable that the 82d Psalm was composed at this time, and addressed to’these judges.

further offers from Ahaziah, and prosecuted the enterprise alone. The trade does not appear to have been very successful, and was not long continued.

Soon after this, we find Jehoshaphat in alliance with the kings of Israel, and engaged in carying on a war with Moab. Moab had fallen to the kingdom of Israel in the separation. Until the death of Ahab it remained in subjection, but then rebelled. Jehoshaphat lent his aid to the king of Israel in reclaiming it to his subjection. Exasperated at the part he had taken in this war, the chiklren of Moab turned their wrath against him. They enlisted the Ammonites and Edomites in their cause, and secured aid from the Syrians. From all these sources a large army was gathered, and marched against Jehoshaphat. They entered the land of Judah, and pitched their camp at Engedi. Alarmed at this array, “Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.” The whole congregation were assembled, and the king stood in. the court of the temple, and prayed, acknowledging the sovereign power of God in all things, and in planting Judah as a nation; pleading his promises to hear the cries of his people m their emergency; urging their present danger and distress as a ground and motive for his present interference, closing with these memorable words of humility and faith, “0 our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this gi-eat company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon thee.” In the silence that pervaded that vast assembly, a single voice was heard, pronouncing deliverance. Jahaziel, a Levite, moved by the Spirit of the Lord, encouraged them to go without fear and meet the enemy, “and then to stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” Upon this assurance, the king, and all the congregation, bowed their faces, and offered praise unto God. In the morning they went as directed to meet their threatening foe; but not so much in the strength of arms, as in the strength of faith. As they went, the singers went before them, praising God,’“whose mercy endureth for ever.” “When they began to sing, the allied forces, from a supernatural influence, quarrelled among themselves, and destroyed one another; so that when the army of Jehoshaphat reached the scene of strife, their enemies were fallen, “and nothing was left for them but to take the spoils of the slain.” After four days they returned with great joy, and songs of thanksgiving. “And the fear of God was on all those countries when they heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel. So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet; for his God gave him rest roundabout.” Thus ended the days of this pious king. “He reigned twenty-five years, and departed not from that which

was right in the sight of the Lord.” He -was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.

Jehoshaphat was among the best of the kings of Judah. The kingdom was never more happy or prosperous than under his reign. He sought the Lord with all his heart; and proved the power of a strict adherence to his faith, to make a people both great and good. He was loved by his people, respected by foreign nations, and feared by his foes. He did more to settle the kingdom upon its right principles than all who had preceded him, from David onward. He was never elated by success. He was humble and relying upon the guidance and arm of God in all events. He strictly adhered to his principles to the last; and in the final public act of his life, his humility and his faith shine the clearest. He stands before us as a model of a wise, benevolent, and pious king.

SECTION XYI.

AHAZIAH’S REIGN — HISTORY OF ELISHA, AND THE REIGN OF JEHORAM — NAAMAK

THE LEPER THE 6IEGE OF SAMARIA AND ITS MIRACULOUS DELIVERANCE THE

ANOINTING OF JEHU AND HAZAEL THE REIGN OF JEHORAM AND AHAZIAII KING

OF JUDAII.

The remaining acts of Jehoshaphat’s reign follow those of the king of Israel. He could not well extricate himself from the alliance he had made. We resume, therefore, the thread of the Israelitish history, at the time of the death of Ahab. Ahaziah his son came to the throne at a most unfortunate juncture of affairs. His kingdom weakened by the disaster at Ramoth, and the hearts of his best subjects alienated by the shameless idolatry of Ahab, he did nothing to reclaim their affections, “but walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and did evil in the sight of the Lord; and served Baal, and worshipped him.”

After a short reign of between (5ne and two years, he met “with an accident which was fatal in its result: “He fell through a lattice in his upper chamber, in Samaria, and was sick.” True to the idolatrous faith of his parents, Ahaziah sent to consult Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron. On their way thither, the messengers were met by Elijah, sent from the Lord with this message to the king: “Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? Kow, therefore, saith the Lord, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up.” Thus warned, the messengers suddenly return to their master, and deliver the message which they had received. From the description of his person, as well as from the tenor of his words, the king knew, that the man who had thus boldly arrested his servants, wa-Elijah. Determined to secure him, he sent a captain and fiftj men to bring him into his presence. The officer went up to the prophet, and said, “Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down. And Elijah answered, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down and consume thee and thy fifty;” and fire came down and consumed them. This was repeated a second time, with a like result. Still persisting in his purpose, and unaffected by the judgments his men had experienced, a third captain was sent to arrest the prophet. This captain, wiser than his master, came and besought Elijah, “0 man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight.” His prayer was granted. Warned of God, the prophet arose at once, and went down to the king; and repeats the message in person which he had previously sent by the king’s messengers. “Ahaziah died according to the word of the Lord, which Elijah had spoken; and Jehoram, or Joram, (his brother,) reigned in his stead.”*

Elijah had now finished his public labours; and the time of his departure was at hand. Conscious of this, he determines upon a circuit among the schools of the prophets, giving them his final instructions and benediction. Elisha, who had been forewarned of his master’s coming departure, steadfastly adhered to his purpose of accompanying him in this last journey. At Gilgal, at Bethel, and at Jericho, Elijah urges him to remain, but the only answer of this faithful follower is, “As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.” As these two went on, they came to the Jordan, and Elijah, as if to make a last display of the miraculous power so long intrusted to him, “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.” Before he was taken from him, Elijah asked Elisha what he should do for him; and Elisha, conscious of the difficult duties before him, answers, “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.” “As they still went on and talked, behold there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and parted them asunder, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.” “Elisha saw it, and said, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof.” But though bereaved, he was not without support; he

* In 2 Kings i. 17, it is said that Jehornm’s reign began in the second year of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. As Jehosljaphat reigned after this nearly eight years, it is supposed that he admitted his son to reign with liiin for nine years before his death. The date here refers to the years of his reign as associate king, had fulfilled the condition, and he received the promise. The mantle of Elijah remained -with him, (that mantle with which he had been called, that mantle with which the last miracle of Elijah had been wrought,) as a pledge and token of the spirit and power of Elijah.

Having thus followed his master to the last, he turned back, and smiting the waters of Jordan, said, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah? and when he had also smitten the waters they parted hither and thither; and Elisha went over.” Witnessing both miracles, the sons of the prophets at Jericho “went out to meet Elisha, and bowed themselves to the ground before him, and said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha.” Wanting the faith or knowledge of their master, as to the ascension of Elijah, they seek leave to go and search for him. Elisha gave a reluctant consent; and the search was vain.

Elisha wrought another miracle at Jericho. The waters of that city, like most of the springs near the Dead Sea, were brackish. The men of the city came to the prophet for help, and as if to confirm their faith in the fulness of his Divine mission, he took salt and cast it into the waters, “and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land; and the waters were healed.”

He now passes on from Jericho to Bethel, another school of the prophets. On his way thither, there came out little children (or perhaps young men,) instigated by their idolatrous parents, “and mocked him, saying, Go up, thou bald-head; go up, thou bald-head.” There was an evident allusion to the ascent of Elijah in these words, and an impious assertion of their unbelief. God was insulted by the insults heaped upon his prophets: Elisha, inspired to pronounce their sentence, turned back, and pronounced a curse upon them, “in the name of the Lord.” The judgment was speedily executed; “there came forth two shehears from the wood, and tore forty and two children of them.” The prophet then went on to Carmel and Samaria.

The history of Elisha now falls in with the civil history of the kingdom. Joram was better than his father Ahab. Either from the influence of the prophet, or from the influence of Jehoshaphat, with whom he was in alliance, he took away the statue of Baal. The reformation, however, went no further than this. There was no attempt made to correct the sin of Jeroboam. After the death of Ahab and the defeat at Ramoth, the king of Moab, who had been tributary to Israel, revolted. Joram persuaded Jehoshaphat to join him in an expedition to bring this king back to his allegiance. It was probably impossible for him now to reach or subdue Moab in any other way. The ways on the east of the Dead Sea were shut in by the victorious Syrians under Benhadad. The joint armies of Judah and Israel, with the army of the king of Eclom,* were therefore led through the wilderness of Edom. After a seven days march, they were distressed for the want of water. Joram was in despair at the calamity, but Jehoshaphat inquires for a prophet. One of Joram’s servants told him that Elisha was present in the camp; upon learning this, the three kings went down to his tent. “And Elisha said to the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father and mother.” The king urges the danger and straits of the army, and impliedly confesses the inability of his father’s gods to help. Still, however, the prophet, unsatisfied with this insincere profession, continues, “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.” Then calling for a minstrel to sooth his agitated spirit, he commands them in the name of the Lord, “Make this valley full of ditches; for thus saith the Lord, ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle. And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord; he will deliver the Moabites also unto your hand, and ye shall smite their cities, and mar their land.” According to the prediction, in the morning the water came, and that in great abundance.

The same water proved a snare to the Moabites. Learning the approach of the kings, they had marshalled their forces, and were now in sight of their enemies. Looking upon the water, as it lay under the light of the morning sun, they supposed it to be blood, and that the allied forces had smitten each other. They then rushed on, confident of victory. Instead, however, of a deserted camp, they met the Israelitish army ready for battle. They fled at once in the greatest panic, and were pursued to their own land; their cities were beaten down, their trees felled, their land marred with stones, and the king himself besieged in his capital. In despair at his misfortunes, the king of Moab attempts to cut his way through the forces of his enemies and escape. Failing in this, he then sacrificed his eldest son, as a burnt-offering, on the wall of his capital city. Struck with horror at this dreadful act, the kings of Judah and Israel withdrew their armies and returned into their own land.

The narrative turns at once from this last extremity of war to the mission and deeds of Elisha as a messenger of good. The widow of a prophet tells him that her husband, having died in debt, the creditor was come to take her sons as bondm-en, and pleads for his assistance. Elisha asks what she had wherewith she could aid herself. She rej)lied, there was nothing

The king of Edom mentioned here, 2 Kings, iii. 9, could only have been a viceroy or governor, as we are expressly told 1 Kings ssii. 41, that there was no king in Edom at this time.

left save one pot of oil. He then commanded her to borrow empty vessels from her neighbours, and fill them from the single vessel until they were full. The widow did as she was directed, and selling the oil, thus miraculously multiplied, paid her debt, and saved her children from bondage.

In the course of his journeyings Elisha came to Shunem, where lived a “great woman.” She often entertained the prophet hospitably. Perceiving him to be “a holy man of God,” and longing to enjoy his converse, she at length proposed to her husband that they should build a chamber for the prophet, where he might rest in his journeys. The chamber was built and furnished, and eventually the prophet became its occupant. Grateful for this constant kindness, he commanded Gehazi, his servant, to call the woman, and said, “Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care: what is to be done for thee? Wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of his host?” She chose, however, to decline the prophet’s offer, “and to dwell among her own people.” Still she lacked, as Gehazi had learned, one thing to complete her happiness. “She had no child.” Upon learning this, Elisha had her recalled, and promised her a son. The child grew up until he was able to accompany his father into his harvest-field, and then the hopes of his friends were crushed by his sudden death. The godly mother immediately turns herself to him from whom she had received her son by promise. She had faith that he who had given her the child could now restore him to her. She accordingly goes with all haste to the man of God. To the remonstrance of her husband, she simply answers, “It shall be well.” “So she came to the man of God, at Carmel;” and to the questions of Gehazi, who had been sent to meet her, “Is it well with thee, and thy husband, and thy child?” she answers with a wonderful faith and resignation, “It is well.” When she came where the prophet was, with all the depth and tenderness of a mother’s sorrow, she informs him of her loss. “Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say. Do not deceive me?” Elisha immediately sent Gehazi to lay his staff upon the child. But the mother, conscious that her son was dead, was not thus easily satisfied. “As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee,” was her steadfast purpose. Gehazi’s errand, as the mother had conjectured, was in vain. “The child had not awaked.” When Elisha reached the house, he found indeed that it was no swoon, but natural death. “He went in, therefore, and shut the door, and prayed unto the Lord.” Then using the natural means, which Elijah had used in a like case before him, his prayer was answered, and the child, raised to life, was restored again to its mother.

The next event recorded in the history of Elisha was healing of the poisoned pottage. “There was a dearth in the land, ami the sons of the prophets were seething their pottage.” One of their number, by mistake, had gathered a poisonous fruit, and mingled it with their food. As they were about to eat, they discovered the mistake, and, appealing to Elisha, he cast meal into the pot, and miraculously neutralized the poison, so that they eat with safety.

He then feeds and sustains, with twenty small loaves, an hundred of his brother prophets — a miracle which reminds us, very strongly, of those which were wrought by our Saviour, in his day.

Some time in the course of the previous events, occurs the history of Naaman, the Syrian general. This man was of great importance to his king; by his hand, indeed, had God given deliverance to Syria. But, with all his greatness, he was an incurable leper. Among the servants of his wife there was a captive Israelitish maid, who had heard of Elisha, and gave utterance to her faith, “Would God my lord were with the prophet in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.” This saying was told to Naaman, and by him to the king. Naaman went to the king of Israel, with letters from the king of Syria, and a large present in silver and gold. The king saw in it only a plan to provoke a war; but Elisha sent to him to let Naaman “come to him, and he should know that there is a prophet in Israel.” Naaman went accordingly, with all his train, and stood at the door of Elisha. As a leper he could not enter the house, and Elisha went not out to meet him, as he had expected, but sent and told him to “Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thou shalt be clean.” Enraged at this, because he was not healed in the way he expected to be,- Naaman was about to return home; but, yielding to the wise entreaties of his servants, he at length went to the Jordan and washed, “and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” Gratitude soon led him back to the door of the prophet, which he had just left in pride and anger. He professes his faith in the God of Israel as the only true God, and urged the prophet to take a reward. But Elisha refused. He then asks for earth enough to build an altar unto the Lord, “for thy servant will henceforth ofier neither burnt-offerings nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord.” He sought, however, the indulgence to attend the king of Syria into his idol temple of Rimmon. Elisha, without answering directly his request, dismissed him in peace. Scarcely had he departed, when he was overtaken by Gehazi, who, less scrupulous than his master, had followed the lordly Syrian, and with a lie in his mouth sought from him a gift in the name of his master. Naaman, in the flow of his gratitude, urged upon him double what he aslcecl. Gehazi returned with his ill-gotten spoil, and having laid it away, “went in and stood before his master.” The prophet asked him where he had been; and on his answering, No whither, Elisha, clothing himself in the attributes of a judge, rebuked sternly his avarice, and pronounces upon him the terrible doom, “The leprosy of Naaman shall cleave unto thee and thy seed for ever. And he went out from his presence, a leper as white as snow.”

Whatever may have been the morals of the people, the prophets maintained their integrity. An instance of this occurs in the narrative. In the increase of their number they went out to build beside the Jordan, and Elisha went with them. In the course of their labours, while cutting a beam, the axe head of one of them fell into the river. The loss was small, but the axe was borrowed, and this added greatly to the loser’s distress. Elisha, however, relieved his anxiety, by miraculously causing the iron to swim.

In the course of the history, Elisha appears again as connected with the interests of the state. The kingdoms of Israel and Syria were again at war. All the plans which Benhadad laid were revealed unto Elisha, and by him made known to the king of Israel. The king of Syria, thus frustrated in every attempt, suspected some traitor in his camp, but on inquiry his servants told him that it was Elisha “who tellest the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.” Upon this Benhadad sent an armed band, “a great host, to compass Dothan, and bring the prophet to his camp.” He does not seem to have thought that this plan could be foreseen and frustrated, as well as the others which he had laid. When they rose in the morning “the host compassed the city with horses and chariots.” The servant of Elisha was alarmed; but Elisha calmed his fears, and in answer to his prayer, “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.” The prophet now went forth to meet the enemy, and in answer to his prayer again, “the Lord smote the Syrians with blindness.” Elisha then led them to Samaria, where their blindness was removed, and the astonished Syrians saw the prophet in the midst of the city. Jehoram, who saw his enemy thus within his power, would have put them to death, but the prophet prevented him, and sent them back to their master. This put an end to the present campaign. The king of Syria saw that it was vain to contend against supernatural power, and abandoned the contest for the present.

Soon after this, however, Benhadad again led his armies into Israel, and laid siege to Samaria. So strict was the siege, that all communication was cut off, and Samaria suffered the horrors of a famine. The famine was so severe that the very vilest substances were sold at an enormous price. Nor was this all. Parents, mothers were found feeding upon their deceased children. In his distress, at such scenes at this, the king plunges deeper and deeper into sin, and at last, by a solemn oath, swears to take the life of Elisha. But God forewarns the prophet of his danger; and to the messengers who were come to take him, he predicts by the word of the Lord, “to-morrow, about this time, shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.” This promise was incredible to the faithless Israelites, notwithstanding all the miraculous deliverances which they had witnessed. A lord who heard the assurance, openly expressed his unbelief, and the prophet rebuked him with the sentence, “thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not eat thereof.” On the following night “the Lord caused the Syrians to hear the noise of a great host,” as of the Hittites and the Egyptians, and they arose and fled, and left their tents filled with gold and food. Four lepers, who were hanging around the gate, had resolved, in despair, to cast themselves upon the mercy of the Syrians. When they reached their camp, they found that they had fled. Loading themselves thrice with the spoil, from the Syrian camp, they at length brought the “good tidings to the city.” The news was communicated rapidly to the king. Joram at first suspected a snare; that the Syrians had feigned a retreat to lure them from the city, and then turn upon them and take them before they could find a refuge within its walls. Sending out spies, however, he found that the flight was real. As far as Jordan “the way was strewn with garments and vessels which the Syrians had cast away in their haste.” “And the people went out and spoiled the tents of the Syrians,” so that the prediction of Elisha was literally fulfilled. Another prophecy also was fulfilled. The lord who had expressed his unbelief of the prophet so boldly and tauntingly, was made keeper of the gate, and in the press of the people, to secure the food, “he was trodden and died;” he saw the abundance, but did not eat thereof.

At some interval after the siege and deliverance, though directly following it in the narrative, we have given to us God’s gracious care of the pious Shumanite. As a seven years’ famine was about to come, Elisha warned her “to go with her household and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn.” She did as Elisha advised, “and went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines.” At the end of seven years she returned, but found her land in the possession of others. She went immediately to the king with her cause; who was just then, providentially, listening to Gehazi’s account of Elisha’s miracles.

Gehazi told the king that this was the -svoman whose son Elisha had raised to life. Impressed with this coincidence, the king ordered an officer “to restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the daj that she left the land until now.” We find Elisha next in Damascus. He went, probably, to fulfil the command given long before to Elijah his master. Hearing of his presence, Benhadad sent Hazael with a present “to the man of God, to inquire whether he should recover from the disease” under which he was then suflcring. Elisha answered, “Thou mayest certainly recover; howbeit the Lord hath showed me that he shall surely die.” The prophet “then settled his countenance and wept.” Upon being asked the cause of this, by Hazael, he replied, “I know the evil thou wilt do in Israel: their strongholds wilt thou set on fire, their young men, women, and children, wilt thou slay.” “Hazael said, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing? Ehsha answered, The Lord hath showed me that thou shalt be king over Syria.” Hazael went from the prophet, and commenced his career of crime by murdering his master. Soon after this, Elisha sent one of the sons of the prophets to anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel. Having thus fulfilled the command given to Elisha, we hear no more of him till the reign of Joash. His efforts to reform the people were comparatively fruitless. At length, in a good old age, he was called to follow his master. Among those who gathered around the dying prophet was Joash king of Israel. The king wept over him as the stay and hope of Israel. The prophet once more feeling the inspiration of God upon him, directed the weeping king to take a bow and arrows, and “shoot from the window, eastward.” The arrows were symbolical of the Lord’s deliverance, and the deliverance from Syria. He then told him “to smite with the arrows upon the ground, and he smote thrice and stayed.” Elisha reproved him for not smiting oftener, “for then hadst thou smitten Syria until thou hadst consumed it, but now thou shalt smite it but three times.” “Then Elisha died and was buried:” and as if to honour him after death, his bones were gifted by God with the power of restoring a dead body to life. Elisha was little less eminent than Elijah. Though less stern, he was still severe in his reproof of the apostate kings. His miracles were numerous and stupendous; but they failed in accomplishing that for which many of them were wrought. He died as he lived, in the midst of a general apostacy, and with the sad conviction that the chosen people were still to suffer as a consequence of their sins. Men were more willing to weep over his death, as a public calamity, than to yield to his instructions while living.

Having thus followed out the life of Elisha, we turn back to bring up the history of Judah and Israel to the rebellion of Jehu, which exerted so important an influence on both kingdoms. Upon the death of Jehoshaphat, his son Jehoram, who had reigned for some years jointly with his father, succeeded “to the kingdom of his father.” Fenced cities were given to the other members of the royal family. Jehoram did not follow the example of his pious father; “but walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, like as did the house of Ahab.” This departure from the faith was due to the influence of his wife, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, a woman, who, like her mother, knew no restraints in crime. The deplorable results of Jehoshaphat’a alliance with Ahab were already manifest. “Howbeit the Lord would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant he had made with him, and promised him and his children a light for ever.”

During his reign the Edomites revolted from the dominion of Judah, “and made themselves a king.” Jehoram marched with a large army to recover his dominion, but though successful in a single battle, he was not able to subdue the rebels so as to bring them under tribute. At the same time Libnah revolted, “because he had forsaken the Lord.” The specific act which gave rise to this revolt, was probably the inhuman murder of his brothers by the wicked king; such an act might very naturally excite discontent in the fenced cities over which these brothers were placed. Aside from the loss of the Edomites, his kingdom was invaded by the Philistines and Arabians, who ravaged the land, plundered the royal palace, and carried captive the wives and sons of the king, except the youngest son Jehoahaz.

In the midst of his wretchedness and idolatry, he received a warning from Elijah, (who though now dead had been inspired to write this warning, and delivered to one of the prophets to give to the king,) denouncing heavy calamities and personal afflictions, as a punishment for his apostacy and crimes. The sickness which the prophet threatened came upon him in his latter days. After a short reign of eight years, and sufi’ering two years under sore diseases, he died, and public opinion denied him the customary honors of a royal funeral, and refused him burial in the sepulchres of his fathers.

Ahaziah, (Jehoahaz,) his youngest son reigned in his stead. Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned but one year; “like his father he walked in the ways of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the Lord.” Jehoram’s advisers, and the queen-mother Athaliah, were his only counsellors, “to his destruction.”

He immediately joined himself with Joram king of Israel, in a war against Hazael at Ramoth-gilead. In the battle Joram was severely woimcled, “and returned to Jezreel to be healed of his wounds.” While lying in his palace he received a visit from the king of Judah, and then occurred the rebellion of Jehu, which was so fatal to both.

SECTION XVII.

JEHU’S CONSPIRACY AND HEIGN — ATHALIAH USURPS THE THRONE OF JUDAH —

JOASH THE KING OF JUDAH JOASH KING OF ISRAEL THE HISTORY OF AMAZIAH

AND JEROBOAM (II.) THE REIGNS OF UZZIAH AND JOTHAM THE CONSPIRACY

AGAINST ZECHARIAH KING OF ISRAEL — THE CIVIL WAR UNDER MENAHEM, AND THE INVASION FROM ASSYRIA.

Jehu was anointed king in the camp at Ramoth-gilead. At the command of Elisha. one of the prophets came to the camp, and calling Jehu “from among the captains of the host,” “poured oil on his head,” and said, Thus saith Jehovah, God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, and thou shalt smite the house of Ahab, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord at the hand of Jezebel.” Jehu returned to the council of his fellow captains, and informed them of the commission he had received. They were prepared for the intelligence, and without dissent hasted “to the top of the stairs,” and spread their garments beneath his feet, “and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king.” This was done in presence of the army, and without any opposition. Jehu lost no time and took no half measures. He immediately entered his chariot and drove for Jezreel, to be the first to tell of his own conspiracy. Joram and Ahaziah were both at Jezreel. Jehu’s coming was seen by the watchmen of Jezreel, and two messengers, one after another, were sent by the king to meet him, and were commanded by Jehu to fall in with his own company in the rear. By this time the watchmen recognised the driving as that of Jehu. The king himself now went forth to meet him, and Ahaziah went with him. They met in the field of Naboth. Joram saluted his general with, “Is it peace, Jehu?” “And he answered, What peace, so long as the idolatries of thy mother Jezebel, and her witchcrafts are so many.” Joram turned to flee, but Jehu, who knew no warning, drew a bow with his full strength, and shot the king through the heart. He then ordered the body to be cast into the field of Naboth, that the word of the Lord by Elijah might be fulfilled: “The blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons will I requite thee in this field.” (Ahaziah escaped, but he was pursued and wounded so that he died at Megiddo, a town west of Jezreel, and not far from the mountains of Carmel. “His servants carried him to Jerusalem and buried him in the sepulchres of his fathers.”)*

Jehu went on and entered the city. The news of his conspiracy, however, went before him. Jezebel in the mean time attiring herself in her queenly dress, stood at the window and saluted Jehu as he passed, “Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?” Jehu, unmoved at her question, commanded the eunuchs to throw her down. They did not hesitate to obey his command, and this proud and guilty woman was trodden under foot by Jehu’s horses. After he had obtained possession of the palace, and had dined, Jehu sent his servants to bury Jezebel. They found only a few remnants of her body, and as they came to tell their fierce master, he quotes the prophecy of Elijah, ‘• In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel.”

Samaria, the capital, was still in the hands of Ahab’s sons. Jehu therefore wrote letters to the elders of the city, telling them to choose one of Ahab’s seventy descendants, and make him king; but upon receiving a submissive answer, he commands them to show their submission, by beheading their master’s sons. The command was executed, and the heads of the slain were brought to him at Jezreel. As he came forth the next morning, he found them lying at the entering of the gate. In the sight of these heads, Jehu explains his conduct as the executioner of the Divine purpose: “and of the word which the Lord had spoken by his servant Elijah.” After this he “slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, his kinsfolks and his priests.” He then proceeded to Samaria. On the way thither he fell in with the brethren, (relatives, probably nephews,) of Ahaziah, who had heard nothing of the conspiracy, and were on their way to salute the king and queen. These also were taken by this blood-thirsty man, and slain, to the number of forty-two. Further on, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab, and took him into his chariot, that he might “show him his zeal for the Lord,” which was now plainly only a cover for his own fierce ambition. When he reached Samaria, he repeated the same exterminating process which he had carried on at Jezreel. With these fell the house and family of Ahab, and the third dynasty of Israel.

Still, however, a large part of his commission remained unexecuted. The adherents and priests of Baal were yet living, and these were strictly within the scope of his commission. To reach his end, Jehu feigns himself a zealous worshipper of Baal, and “proclaimed a solemn assembly” for the idol god. All

The account in Chronicles xxii.9, varies slightly from that givenjin the Kings, which we have followed, (2 Kings ix. 28.) — It seems probable that the events related in the rest of the 9th, and first part of the 10th chapters, occurred before the death of Ahaziah. This would reconcile all the main differences in the two accounts. The narrative of the chronicler is here more condensed.

the “worshippers of Baal were brought to this feast. The temple at Samaria was thronged “with “worshippers, who “were clothed with priestly vestments. Those “who “were suspected of any attachment to the Lord God of Israel, “were, by the command of Jehu, carefully excluded. When the temple “was thus full, soldiers “were posted at every door, “VN’ho, at a signal from the king, rushed in and put every “worshipper to the S”word. The images “were then brought out and burned, and the temple broken do”wn and defiled.

Although Jehu “was thus zealous against the service of Baal, he failed utterly of entering into the true spirit of his calling. He fell readily into the policy of Jeroboam, and maintained the worship of the calves at Bethel and Dan. For this partial obedience he received the assurance “that his children, to the fourth generation, should sit on the throne of Israel.” For his disobedience in following the sin of Jeroboam, his dynasty was limited to four generations, and his own reign was troubled with the inroads of the Syrians under Hazael. All the east of Jordan was wrested from his dominion. We hear no more of him than that he reigned twenty-eight years, and was buried in Samaria. Jehu was remarkable for the energy and decision of his character. He was fierce, but his passion never mastered his reason. His plans were adopted, and never flinched from, whatever their execution might cost. His zeal was selfish; it reached no farther than the interests of religion squared with his Own ambition. He was raised up by God for special ends, but the methods by which he reached those ends were only his own; and he only is accountable for them. His motives were bad; and we cannot but feel horror-struck at the cruelties and barbarous deeds which everywhere mark his course. Jehoahaz, his son, reigned in his stead.

While the worship of Baal was thus exterminated in Samaria, it fled and established itself in the holy city. Athaliah, the daughter of Jezebel, was yet in power at Jerusalem. When she heard of the murder or execution of her mother, and her son, she determined to grasp the sceptre herself. Seizing the opportunity, she put all her grandchildren to death except Joash, an infant son of Ahaziah, who was rescued by her daughter, the wife of Jehoiada, the priest, and kept secretly “in the house of the Lord for six years.” In the seventh year of Athaliah, Jehoiada revealed the secret to the officers of the guard, “the chief of the fathers, and to the Levites.” Finding them loyal to the true heir to the throne, he “brought them into the temple and showed them the king’s son.” The whole assembly swore allegiance to Joash. Every thing was secretly arranged by Jehoiada, and the Levites and officers, for the crowning of the young king. The courses of the Levites were not dismissed,

SO that a large number were congregated in and about the temple. The spears and shields, which had been dedicated and placed in the temple, were given to the captains of the guard. On the day appointed, the young king was brought out into the court of the temple, the crown was placed upon his head, the testimony was given to him, “and they anointed him king.” They then clapped “their hands, and shouted, God save the king.”

When Athaliah heard the joyful shouts of the people, and the music of the instruments, she came to the temple, and, seeing the newly crowned king surrounded by the people, rent her clothes, and cried, “Treason!” Jehoiada ordered her to be removed from the courts of the temple, and slain.

“Jehoiada then made a covenant between the Lord, and the king, and the people, that they should be the Lord’s people.” Having thus solemnly covenanted with God, we naturally expect to find them jealous for his honour. From the place of covenanting they rose up and “went to the house of Baal (which Athaliah had built) and brake it down;” its altars and images were broken to pieces, and its priest slain before the altar. The orders and courses of the temple service were restored, and the kingdom settled upon a firm foundation. This revolution was so discreetly planned and executed, that but two persons perished; the usurper and the idolatrous priest.

Joash began to reign in his seventh year. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. During the minority of the king, Jehoiada was regent, and the government was well administered: “but the high-places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high-places.” Even Jehoiada found it impossible to break up this custom to which the people were wedded. The attention of Joash was soon turned to the dilapidated condition of the temple, and orders were “given to the priests that the money and dedicated things should be brought into the house of the Lord;” and with the avails of these they were directed to repair the breaches of the house. The priests, however, were not so earnest as the king. In the twenty-third year of his reign nothing had been done. The priests were now called to an account, and another expedient adopted to secure the end. A proclamation was made through Judah, to bring to the Lord the collection that Moses laid upon Israel in the wilderness. “Jehoiada took a chest, and made a hole in the lid of it,” and in this all the money-gifts for the temple were deposited. The people offered willingly. After a time the high-priest, and the king’s scribe, took the money and counted it, “and gave it to those that did the work, that had the oversight of the temple.” “So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it.” They made no vessels of gold and silver until the temple was thoroughly repaired, and then, from the money left, these vessels were made. In all this work, the officers “dealt faithfully,” though held to no strict account for the money they received.

Jehoiada died at the advanced age of an hundred and thirty years. “And they buried him among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, (Judah,) both toward God and toward his house.” After his death, Joash, seduced by the princes of Judah, who had never heartily consented to Jehoiada’s religious government, “left the God of his fathers, and served groves and idols.” The prophets were sent with their warnings, but were not heard. The infatuated king, galled by the bold reproof of Zechariah the son of Jehoiada, notwithstanding all the kindness he had received from Jehoiada, “stoned his son with stones,” till he died. And when Zechariah “died, he said, The Lord look upon it, and require it.” For this apostacy from the faith, and this ingratitude to the family of Jehoiada, Joash was visited with the Divine displeasure. The Syrians came into his land, with a small band defeated his army, devastated the country, and besieged the king in Jerusalem. He was able to bribe Hazael to depart, with the treasures of the temple and the crown, and thus preserve himself from entire destruction. Beside these outward calamities, he was visited with a painful disease, and at last died by the hands of his own subjects, who conspired against him “for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest.” He was buried in the city of David, but not in the sepulchre of the kings. “Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.”

During the long reign of Joash king of Judah, the kingdom of Israel had been undergoing serious changes. Jehoahaz the son of Jehu came to the throne when its power was shut in on every side by the victorious Syrians. The whole land east of Jordan, which constituted two-fifths of the kingdom, was in the possession of Hazael. He did nothing to recover his dominion; but was hemmed in more and more by the armies of Hazael, until at length “all his forces amounted to only fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen.” lleduced to this extremity, “Jehoahaz besought the Lord; and the Lord hearkened unto him, and gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from the hand of the Syrians, and dwelt in their tents as beforetime.” This saviour was Joash his son, who reigned for two years with his father, and then succeeded him in the throne. He bears a fairer character than the most of the Israelitish kings, though he also followed the steps of Jeroboam. It was this king who came and wept at the death-bed of Elisha, and was assured by the prophet that he should be victorious over the Syrians. The prediction of Elisha was soon fulfilled. In three successive battles the Syrians were defeated, and the cities which they had taken restored to the kingdom of Israel; “for the Lord was gracious unto his people, and had compassion on them; and would not destroy them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Meanwhile Amaziah had also been strengthening himself against his foreic;n enemies. “He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not as David his father.” As soon as he ascended the throne he “slew the servants which had murdered his father.” “But the children of the murderers he slew not, according to the law of Moses” — “that the children should not die for the sin of their fathers.” He immediately prepared to check the inroads of the Edomites. For this purpose he gathered the thousands of Judah and Benjamin, from twenty years old and upward. To this immense army he added, as hired forces, “an hundred thousand mighty ‘men of valour out of Israel.” As he was about to march, a prophet directed him to dismiss his hired forces. Amaziah obeyed, (and thus manifested that he knew his true position as subordinate to Jehovah, the real king,) though it cost him the loss of their aid, and the sacrifice of the reward he had given them. The Israelites were, however, exasperated at their treatment, and on their homeward march “fell upon the cities of Judah, smote three thousand of their inhabitants, and took much spoil. Amaziah led his army “into the Valley of Salt,” (the old battle-ground of David’s array and the Edomites,) smote ten thousand of the Edomites, captured Selah, their capital city, and cruelly murdered ten thousand of the captives by hurling them from the tops of their native rocks.

After this complete victory, the king strangely adopted the gods of the nation he had conquered, and worshipped them as his gods. For this the anger of the Lord was kindled against him. A prophet was sent to remonstrate against this sin and folly, but his counsel was rejected. The king was hardened to his own destruction.

Puffed up with his victory over the Edomites, Amaziah sent a challenge to Joash, inviting him to battle. Joash, at first, tauntingly declined the challenge; but Amaziah pressed it upon him, and, at last, he marched out and met the king of Judah at Beth-shemesh. The men of Judah were routed; and Joash, capturing the boastful king, entered Jerusalem without resistance. He then “brake down the wall for four hundred cubits,” “took the gold and silver, and the vessels that were found in the temple, and the king’s treasures, and returned to Samaria.” This disastrous fortune came upon Judah “because they sought after the gods of Edom.” Amaziah, however, still reigned upon the throne of David. He never regained the confidence of his subjects, and, like his father, fell a victim to conspiracy. He “was slain at Lachish, but brought to Jerusalem and buried i the royal sepulchre. Azariah (Uzziah) his son, who was only sixteen years of age, came to the throne.

After his victory over Judah, Joash returned to Samaria. He did not long survive his conquest. His reign, on the whole, was prosperous. Under his dominion Israel was partially restored to its former glory. He died in peace, at Samaria, and Jeroboam, his son, reigned in his stead. Jeroboam followed in the steps of his father. His reign was long and flourishing. He prosecuted successfully the war with Syria, restored the ancient border, retook Damascus and Hamath, and, so far as the short account reaches, was universally victorious. From the prophet Amos (Who wrote during this reign) it appears that this outward success was not followed by any religious reformation. The prophet, accordingly, threatens the Divine displeasure. Nation after nation is called into judgment, and at last the guilty Israelites are cited, and the sentence of God’s justice pronounced. Jeroboam reigned forty-one years, and left the kingdom to Zachariah his son.

After this short history of Jeroboam, the narrative brings us back to the kingdom of Judah. Uzziah was made king by the popular will. During the first part of his reign, (while Zechariah, a man of eminent piety, lived,) “he sought God,” and prospered. He was successful in his wars against the Philistines, Arabians, and Ammonites. He built the walls and towers of Jerusalem. He dug wells and erected towers in the desert, for his flocks. “He loved husbandry,” and fostered it. He organized the army anew, into bands, under twenty-six hundred chiefs, who were sent to war by rotation. For all this host he provided armour, “spears, and helmets, and bows, and slings.” He had engines “for shooting arrows and great stones,” invented, and placed upon the towers and bulwarks of Jerusalem. “And his name spread far abroad, for he was marvellously helped until he was strong.”

At length, however, his heart was lifted up to his destruction; “he went into the temple of the Lord, to burn incense, and transgressed against the Lord his God.” Azariah, the priest, reproved him for his daring presumption, and prevented him from the sacrilege he designed. In the midst of his strife with the bold and conscientious priest, and in the very act of burning incense, he was smitten with the leprosy, and thrust out by the priests. “And the Lord smote the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and he dwelt in a several house; and Jotham was over the house, judging* che people of the land.”

This took place some time before the close of his reign, and

Jotham therefore was associated with his father in the government. Upon the death of Uzziah, Jotham began his reign alone, and reigned sixteen years. He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, avoiding the sin of his father. He ruled in the fear of God, and he was prospered accordingly. The Ammonites were constrained to pay a heavy tribute: “The high gate of the temple was built” — new fortifications were constructed in Jerusalem, “castles and towers” were erected “in the mountains of Judah, and in the wilderness.” “So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God.” Jotham died, lamented by his people, and was buried in the city of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.*

While the kingdom of Judah was enjoying these long and prosperous reigns, the neighbouring kingdom was in the midst of civil war. Jeroboam had scarcely died when we find the restless spirit of this people manifesting itself. There appears to have been no strong attachment to any reigning family. Zechariah, the son of Jeroboam, had scarcely seated himself on the throne, when Shallum “conspired against him, and slew him before the people, and reigned in his stead.” With this king the dynasty of Jehu ceased, according to the word of the Lord to him, “Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel until the fourth generation.”

Shallum reigned but one month, when he, in turn, was slain by Menahem, the son of Gadi. Menahem spared no cruelties to establish himself upon the throne; every one who opposed his usurpation was put to the sword. Like the other kings of Israel, he followed in the steps of Jeroboam, “and did that which was evil in the sisiht of the Lord.” The most memorable event in his reign was the invasion of Pul, tho king of Assyria. This is the first that we hear of that kingdom or empire, which was to exert such an influence upon these kingdoms, and which occupies so large a space in the world’s history. Menahem at once purchased a peace, and exacted the money, by an arbitrary and oppressive tax, from his people. The ambitious monarch of Assyria was satisfied for the present; but the extortion of Menahem left him little to hope from the loyalty of his people. While he lived, all insurrections were suppressed; but when, after a reign of eleven years, he left the throne to Pekahiah, a conspiracy broke out immediately. One of his captains, Pekah, son of Remaliah, rose up against him, and slew him in the royal palace, “and reigned in his room.” Pekah’s reign was not a peaceful one.

* In the days of these kings, we have Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah, the prophets. From the warnings in which these prophets abound, we cannot fail to see that the nation was becoming more and more corrupt.

He had scarcely obtained the kingdom when another invasion from Assyria threatened the land. This time the king was not to be satisfied with a bribe — he came for spoil. All the northern part of the kingdom fell a prey to his power, and its inhabitants were carried captive to people his capital. Thus began the fulfilment of that threatening which God had uttered by Moses, against his apostate people. So general was this devastation, that Ephraim alone henceforth expresses the whole kingdom. This terrible calamity drew forth the prophet Isaiah. “We hear him lamenting over Ephraim, and yet adding, as the end of all, the mournful conviction: “for all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.” Indeed, none of God’s judgments, terrible as they were, made any salutary imyression on the people.

SECTION XYIII.

THE REIGN OF AHAZ — THE FALL OF SAMARIA, AND DESTRUCTION OF THE KINGDOM

OF ISRAEL THE GOOD KEIGN OF HEZEKIAH MANASSEH REIGNS WICKEDLT THE

REIGN OF AMON.

Having thus lost a large part of his kingdom, and finding himself unable to reclaim it, Pekah allies himself with Rezin king of Damascus, in an attack against the quiet land of Judah. To this kingdom we must now return. From the prophet Isaiah, we learn that the war was cruel as it was unexpected. It began in the latter days of Jotham. The fortresses which he had constructed were now of great service. But just at this juncture, when his experience was most needed, he was removed from the throne, and the kingdom left to the young and inexperienced Ahaz. To add to their calamity, Ahaz proved one of the most corrupt of the kings of Judah. “He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, made molten images for Baalim, caused his sons to pass through the fire, and sacrificed and burnt incense in every high place.” As we might expect, the armies of such a king could not stand against their foes. They were given into the hands of Rezin and Pekah. A large number of the people were carried captive to Damascus. In the battle with Pekah, one hundred and twenty thousand fell, and a greater number still were taken captive. But as the king of Ephraim returned to Samaria* “with his captives and his spoils,” the prophet Obed met him and forbade the enslavement of their brethren. The nobles of Ephraim generously seconded the

* Rezin appears to have gone on with his arm)’ across the kingdom of Ahaz, to the desert of Arabia, and captured the city of Elath, at the head of the Red Sea. This shows clearly how eft’cctually Ahaz was subdued, when a hostile army could pass through the land without opposition.

message of the prophet, and said unto them that came from the war: “Ye shall not bring in the captives hither; for whereas we have offended against the Lord, ye intend to add more to our sins and our trespass.” Upon this double remonstrance, the captives were fed and clothed, and carried back to their brethren at Jericho.

While Ahaz was thus suffering from the allied powers of Syria and Ephraim, he was also attacked by the Philistines on the south, who took possession “of six towns, with their villages.” At the same time the Edomites threw off the yoke of Ahaz, marched into Judah, “and carried away captives.”* “For the Lord brought Judah low, because of Ahaz, who made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord.”

The distress of Ahaz wrought no reformation. Though warned by Isaiah (vii. 10.) not to fear, and assured of deliverance from his foes, he yet “sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria,” “to save him from the hand of Syria and Israel.” With the ambassadors he sent all the treasures, royal and sacred, and even became tributary to the monarch of Assyria. The Assyrian king accepted the conditions, marched immediately against Rezin, slew him in battle, and captured Damascus. Upon this, Ahaz went to Damascus to meet his new ally. While there, he sacrificed to the gods of Syria. Nor was this all; he determined to carry the nation with him in his idolatry. He found Urijah the priest a fit instrument for his purpose. Against the king’s return, Urijah had constructed an altar after the pattern which had been sent from Damascus. Upon this altar the king himself, with his more guilty priest, offered offerings and sacrifices continually. The brazen altar was removed from its place, the lavers were taken from their bases, the brazen sea taken down from the oxen “that were under it, the doors of the house of the Lord were shut up,” “and altars built in every corner of Jerusalem.” Thus, having abolished the public worship of God, and made high places unto other gods in every city, this miserable king passes from our notice. The only record which remains is, “that he was not buried in the sepulchre of the kings.” He had lived to see his country wasted, his subjects made captive, and his kingdom pass into a more tributary power. The ally which he sought in his distress proved a troublesome protection, whose temporary favour could be bought only with the wealth of the kingdom. Hezekiah, his son, reigned in his stead.

In the meantime, the kingdom of Israel was rapidly tending to its fall. Pekah did not long enjoy his victory over Ahaz. He was slain in a conspiracy by Hoshea, the son of Elah.

* Perhaps we may place the prophecy of Obadiah here.

“Hoshea did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as the kings of Israel before hira.” Fearing the Assyrian power, Hoshea entered into an alliance with So, king of Egypt, and failed in his tribute to Assyria. This caused Shalmanezer, king of Assyria, to march an army into the land of Israel and besiege Samaria. After a three years’ siege Samaria was taken, “and the people of Israel carried away into Assyria.” Hoshea had reigned nine years,* and with him the kingdom of Israel came to its end. “For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and had feared other gods.” For this they were punished. Although warned by the prophets, and besought to turn from their evil ways, yet they had rejected his statutes and his covenant, and gone after the heathen and their vanities. They had left the commandments of the Lord, and worshipped Baal. “They had caused their sons to pass through the fire, and used enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil.” “Therefore, the Lord was very angry, and removed them out of his sight: as he had said by all his servants, the prophets.” They had not fallen from any political necessity, but solely from their apostacy and sin. From the days of Jeroboam, onward, every king had failed utterly to recognize his true relation to God, and therefore they were rejected.

While the Israelites were thus removed to other parts of the Assyrian empire, men from Babylon, Ava, Sepharvaim, and Hamath, were brought in to supply their place. These inhabitants brought their idolatry with them, and, being infested with lions, sent to the king of Assyria. A priest accordingly was sent to them, “who should teach them the way (as they termed it) of the God of the land.” Thus originated the mixed religious worship of the Samaritans; “they feared Jehovah and served their own gods.” This sad end of Israel did not fail to attract the notice of the prophets of Judah. Their calamity is made the ground of warning to the nobles of Jerusalem. A warning, alas! not heeded, though faithfully and repeatedly pressed upon their attention.

Still, however, the kingdom of Judah was yet to experience the favour of God. The prophecy of Isaiah received its first fulfilment in the coming of a better earthly king. Hezekiah came to the throne at the age of twenty-five, and immediately began to restore the true religion. “He did that which was

* The chronology of this reign is much perplexed. Some have supposed that there was a space of ten years between Pekah and Hoshea. The duration of the kingdom of Israel (whatever means we may adopt to reconcile different dates) will be about two hundred and fifty years. We may refer a part of the prophecy of Hosea to this reign.

right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his falhcr had done.” The temple was again opened and repaired; the priests and Levites were restored to their offices; all the high-places, and images, and groves, with “the brazen serpent that Moses had made,” were destroyed. The pious king, confessing the sin of his fathers, acknowledging the justice of God in his punishments, calls upon the priests to sanctify themselves, and join him “in a covenant with the Lord God of their fathers, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.”

The priests and Levites seem to have entered cordially into the plans of the king. In large numbers they sanctified themselves, and then “cleansed the house of the Lord.” They began their work on the first day of the month, and finished upon the sixteenth. Hezekiah, having thus kindled the zeal of the priests, and purified the temple from all its abominations which Ahaz had brought into it, “gathered the rulers of the city,” “and went up to the temple” to sacrifice sin-offerings “for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah.” In the most solemn manner they confessed their sin, “laying their hands upon the head of the victims,” “and sprinkling the altar with their blood,” “and thus made an atonement for all (Israel) Judah.” AVhile the sacrifices were going on, the services of the public temple-worship were re-instituted. The king and all the congregation bowed and worshipped, and the Levites, with their instruments, “sang praises unto the Lord in the words of David, and of Asaph the seer.” Then followed a multitude of thankofierings, “from all the free-hearted of the congregation.” So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order. “And Hezekiah rejoiced and all the people, that God had prepared the people, for the thing was done suddenly.”

This revival of genuine religion was evidently a work of the Spirit of God, and brought with it a renewal of the great annual feasts. It was resolved to keep the passover on the second month, one month after the ordinary time, “for the priests were not sanctified, and the people were not gathered” at the usual time. Accordingly posts were despatched to the remnant of Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to “turn unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,” and join in this service. “Be not stiif-necked, as your fathers were, but turn again unto the Lord, and enter his sanctuary. For if ye turn again, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, and shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.” Some of the Israelites laughed the couriers to scorn. Some received the message gladly, and came to Jerusalem. All Judah came as with one heart, “moved by the hand of God.’’

The multitude having assembled, they first took the altars of incense in the city, “and cast them into the brook Kidron.” Then they killed the passover, and the priests sanctified themselves, “and presented the offerings according to the law of Moses.” Many of the people, gathered in such haste, were not ceremonially clean, but Hezekiah prayed, “The good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.” The prayer was heard, and the people were healed. So profound was the impression of this service, that the whole multitude resolved to keep “other seven days: and they kept them with gladness.” During these days the Levites were employed in teaching the people. “So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon there was not the like in Jerusalem. Then the priests blessed the people; and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling-place, even unto heaven.”

From this feast, the people, full of pious enthusiasm, went throughout the land, breaking the images in pieces, cutting down the groves, and throwing down the high-places and altars, till they had destroyed every vestige of idolatry, when every man returned to his own abode.

The courses of the priests and Levites were next set in order, the set feasts established, and the tithes secured. From every quarter the willing people brought in abundance, “from the third to the seventh month.” Store-rooms were prepared for that which was left, after the abundant supply of the priests. Over these free-will-offerings and dedicated things men were appointed, whose office it was to distribute to the priests according to their genealogy. “Thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah; and in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, he did it with all his heart and prospered.” “He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that “were before him.”

Having thus accomplished this great work of reformation, he marched his armies against the Philistines, “and smote them unto Gaza.” Encouraged by this success, he threw off the yoke of Assyria. Sennacherib the king of Assyria came at once with an army to bring him to subjection. Unable to cope with so formidable a power in battle, Hezekiah prepared himself and Jerusalem for a protracted siege. The fountains were closed, the walls were repaired, and a second wall built around the city; weapons were made, and captains set over the men. In this emergency the king encourages his men, “Be strong, and not dismayed, for there be more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God, to help us, and to fight our battles.”*

At length, however, when the Assyrians had reached Lachish, Ilezekiah’s courage and faith failed, and he sent to Sennacherib, saying, “‘I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear.” Sennacherib consented to withdraw his army on payment of “three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold.” Ilezekiah gave him the gold and silver of the royal treasures, and of the temple, and the gold which was upon the pillars of the temple.

The Assyrian king broke faith with Ilezekiah, and still carried on the war. While he continued at Lachish he sent forward his servant, Rabshakeh. Coming to Jerusalem, Rabshakeh delivered his message in the most insulting manner to the king, and to Jehovah, whom they worshipped. He charges them with relying upon Egypt; he blasphemes the God in whom they trusted; he taunts them with their weakness; and at last pleads that he was obeying a divine commission in thus seeking to destroy Jerusalem. Turning from the king’s messengers, he addresses himself to the people; urges them to renounce their trust in Jehovah, to rebel against their king, to pay a tribute to Sennacherib, to wait until he should come and remove them from their land, and closes his oration with a blasphemous assertion that the God whom they trusted was in no way different or more powerful than the gods of Hamath or Arpad. To this insulting speech no answer was given. When the report came to Hezekiah, he went at once to the temple. His only refuge now was in God. To Isaiah the prophet, the king sent a report of this speech; with an expression of his hope and confidence that God would hear the words of the king of Assyria, and vindicate his own name and honour. For this result he asks the prophet to pray. To this message Isaiah was directed by God to reply, “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 rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.”

Meanwhile Rabshakeh had returned to his master, who was now besieging Libnah. He heard the rumour that the king of Ethiopia was coming to meet him. Enraged at his disappointment, he sent again to Hezekiah other messengers, with a threatenino- letter containino; much the same boastino; and insult as before.

With this letter Hezekiah went in before the Lord and prayed:” 0 Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the

* From Isaiah xxx., which was written about this time, it appears that some of the nobles (probably not the king) had sent to Egypt for aid.

cherublms, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear; open, Lord, thine eyes, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he hath sent to reproach the living God.” “Now therefore, 0 Lord our God, I beseech thee, save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God, even thou only.”

Isaiah was sent with an answer to this prayer, strengthening the faith of the king. He charges Sennacherib with his blasphemy; shows him the true position in which he stands, as the instrument of God, and not, as he supposes, doing what he did for his own aggrandizement: tells him that his work was accomplished, and that it was the purpose of God that he should go no further. He then promises blessings to the remnant of Judah, and the escaped of Zion; and closes with a most positive prediction, that the king of Assyria should not so much as come near the city, “for, saith the Lord, I will defend this city, to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.” “On that very night the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and eighty-five thousand.” “Sennacherib returned to Nineveh, and as he was worshipping in the house of his god, his own sons smote him with the sword.” Thus Jehovah interfered for his own honour, and saved his people who trusted in him.

But Hezekiah was to experience another salvation at the hand of God. At the same time that he was delivered from the Assyrians, “he fell sick unto death.” Isaiah came to him with a message from the Lord confirming his worst fears. “Thus saith the Lord, set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.” The love of life, and the state of his kingdom, led him to pray that the sentence might be changed; “I beseech thee, 0 Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight.” The prayer was heard. Before the prophet had left the palace, the word of the Lord came to him, “Tell Hezekiah, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee; on the third day thou shalt go up to the house of the Lord. And I will add unto thy days fifteen years. At Isaiah’s command a lump of figs was laid upon the boil, and he recovered. In the meantime, however, while the cure was going on, Hezekiah demanded a sign to confirm his faith. At his request the sign was given him, the shadow of the sun went back upon the dial of Ahaz, “ten degrees, which it had gone down.” *

* In the account of this miraculous cure, given us in Isaiah xxxviii., we have t song of Ilczekiali upon his recovery. With the close of Hezekiah’s reign, a lar part of the prophet’s duties were finished.

The miraculous destruction of the Assyrian army, and cure of Hezekiah, drew the attention of foreign powers. Among others, the king of Babylon sent presents, “for he had heard of Hezekiah’s sickness.” “Hezekiah’s heart was lifted up” at his importance, and made a display of all his treasures to the Babylonish ambassadors. For this he was reproved by the prophet, with this startling announcement, that all that was in his house, and his own descendants, should be carried captive by this verykingdom of Babylon. With his usual submission to the providence of God, Hezekiah replied, “Good is the word of the Lord, which thou hast spoken, is it not good if peace and truth be in my days.” The rest of his reign was prosperous. He increased in wealth, beautified Jerusalem, increased the number of store cities, and after the fifteen years were passed, he was gathered to his fathers, and slept in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David. His character and memory were held in the highest respect, and he was sincerely mourned by a whole people, the best tribute to the life of a wise and good king. He is the most spotless of the kings of Judah.

His son Manasseh came to the throne at the early age of twelve years. The enemies of Hezekiah’s reform appear to have had the control of his early years. Either from this cause, or from his own disposition, he took directly the opposite course from his father: “He did evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen.” The altars which Hezekiah had broken down, were again rebuilt; altars for Baal were placed again in the temple, even in its very courts; his sons were made to pass through the fire; familiar spirits were sought for, and a graven image that he had made, placed in the house of God, where Jehovah had placed his name. Under the influence of this king, the people were seduced to do more evil than did the nations which God had cast out before them.

Prophets were sent to reprove him, but in vain. The judgments which had fallen upon Samaria were shown to be impending over Jerusalem, but they excited no alarm: instead of a reformation, they hardened the infatuated king, and he added to his iniquities “by shedding innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another.” At length the threatenings of God’s just displeasure were executed. The Assyrian generals came with an irresistible host. Manasseh attempted flight, “but was overtaken among the thorns, bound with fetters, and carried away to Babylon.” In this afiliction, he came to himself, “and besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.” As if to show that sincere prayer was never vain, this miserable king was heard and restored to his kingdom in Jerusalem. On his return he built the wall without the city of David, fortified the city, “took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in Jerusalem, and repaired the altar of the Lord, and. sacrificed thereon. He could not, however, remedy the effects of his own early bad example. “The people sacrificed still in the high-places, but unto the Lord only.” After a long but disastrous reign of fifty-five years, “he slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house.” The happy scene of his father’s reign was thus quickly overcast with heavy clouds; and though his repentance seems sincere, yet we may see how little a late repentance can atone for an early crime, and how little in itself it stays the progress of God’s justice. He did much evil, though we may hope that he died a good man.

Amon succeeded his father at the age of twenty-two. “He also did that which was evil, as his father Manasseh did, and served and worshipped the idols that his father served, and forsook the Lord God of his fathers.” He did not, however, follow his father in his good days. “He did not humble himself as his father did.” After a reign of two years, of which we hear nothing, “he was slain by his servants in his own house.” The people, however, revenged the murder of the king, and slew those “who had conspired against Amon,” “and made Josiah his son king in his stead.”

SECTION XIX.

JOSIAH’S KEIGN — THE FINDING OF THE COPY OF THE LAW — JOSIAH’S REFORMATION

JEHOAHAZ AND JEHOIAKIM THE FIRST REMOVAL OF THE PEOPLE TO BABYLON

JEHOIAKIM — THE SECOND REMOVAL TO BABYLON — ZEDEKIAH, THE LAST KING OF

JUDAH THE CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM.

Josiah was only eight years of age when he was placed upon the throne. But the change was a happy one for the kingdom. From the first he was well inclined. “He did that which was right,” followed the steps of David, “and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.” In his sixteenth year he began to show more clearly his disposition, and in the twentieth he commenced the work which characterized his reign. Judah and Jerusalem were again purged of the high-places, the altars of Baalim were broken down, and the images and groves cut down, and the molten images ground to “dust and sown upon the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.” The bones of the priests were burnt upon the altars. Not content with cleansing Judah and Jerusalem, he went also and did the same in the cities which had belonged to Israel.

In the eighteenth year of his reign, and twenty-sixth of his age, he began to repair the house of the Lord his God. According to the king’s commandment, the officers over the treasury went to Hilkiali the priest, and took the sura of the money which the people had offered, “and gave it to the workmen who had the oversight of the house of the Lord.” The men did the work faithfully and honestly.

In the course of this pious work, Hilkiali the high-priest found “a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses,” which seems to imply that it was the original copy as written by Moses himself. When this was read to the king, it produced the greatest consternation. Whether he was entirely ignorant of the law previously, which is scarcely probable, or whether the denunciations against the sins of the land, coming from that venerable and authoritative copy, may have produced convictions of sin which other copies had failed to produce; in whatever way we may account for it, the reading of this book alarmed even this pious king with the sense of his sin, and the fearful sins and dangers of the kingdom.

In his alarm, Josiah sent his servants with Hilkiah, “to inquire of the Lord for them that are left in Israel and Judah.” They went “to Huldah the prophetess,” with the message of the king. Her answer assured him that the wrath which he feared should surely come. “Thus saith the Lord, I will bring evil upon this place and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book” of the law: “Because they have forsaken me and have burned incense unto other gods, therefore my wrath shall be poured upon this place, and shall not be quenched.” The piety of Josiah was not, however, left unrewarded. His repentance, and humility, and prayers, gained for him the sentence that he should “be gathered to the grave in peace, and his eye should not see all the evil” that was to come upon Jerusalem.

Upon receiving this answer from the prophetess, the king immediately “gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, and went up to the temple, with the priests and prophets, and all the people, both small and great,” and read the book of the law in their hearing. “And he stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord to walk after the Lord, to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all their heart, and with all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were writen in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.”

Having thus in their hearts returned to God, they at once carried out a thorough reformation throughout the land. The temple was cleansed of its remaining pollutions; the images and altars of Baal were everywhere destroyed; all the idolatrous priests were put down; the high-places, where they had burned incense, were defiled. Moreover, the king, in person, went to Bethel, brake down the altar and grove, took the bones of the 2T idolatrous priests “and burned them upon the altar, according to the word of the Lord,” which he spake by the man of God to Jeroboam. As he had done in Bethel, so he did throughout Samaria — breaking down the altars, slaying the idolatrous priests, and polluting their places of worship with the bones of men. All the workers with familiar spirits were banished.

When this was done, and the king had returned to Jerusalem, he prepared to celebrate the passover. Placing the priests in their charges, and the Levites in their courses, according to the writing of David, he commanded to kill the passover, and sanctify themselves “according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.” Josiah, and the princes and the priests, gave willingly to the people victims for the passover and offerings. Every thing was done carefully, and strictly in accordance with the institution given by Moses. The singers, also, were present. In its conformity with the Mosaic institution, and perhaps in its magnificence, “there was not holden such a passover from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a passover as Josiah kept.”

But all this availed not to avert the calamities which were now threatening them. The hour of God’s mercy had passed, for “the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him.”

The time for that removal which had been promised Josiah was noAV at hand. His kingdom was probably tributary to Assyria or Chaldea; and when Pharaoh-nechoh went up against Assyria, Josiah came out to meet him. Pharaoh sent ambassadors to persuade the king of Judah not to fight; urging that he was in haste to execute the commands of God. “But Josiah would not turn his face from him.” The battle was fought in the valley of Megiddo, and the king of Judah was wounded in the fight. His servants took him from his war-chariot, and brought him to Jerusalem, where he died, after a reign of thirty-one years. No king so “followed the Lord with all his heart’” as Josiah. No king was more sincerely lamented by his people. By the good, he was universally mourned. The prophet Jeremiah composed an elegiac ode to his memory, which was long preserved among the people.* He did what he could to stay the progress of the destruction fast coming upon his kingdom; and though his efforts were vain, he was yet kindly taken away from the evil which was approaching.

Josiah fell in battle, and did not appoint his successor. The

* This prophet commenced his prophecy in the thirteenth year of .Tosiah. From the general strain of his prophecy, we may infer that in the midst of the external reformation under Josiah, the mass of the people were still corrupt. Subsequent history proves this.

people therefore took (Sliallum) Jehoaliaz his son, and anointed him king. He did that -which was evil, (notwithstanding his father’s example) and reigned but three months. It seems strange, that in this short time he could so have corrupted himself, as to deserve this bad character. But there are no limits to the evil heart, aside from the grace of God. At the end of three months Pharaoh returned from a successful expedition, took Jehoahaz captive, placed his elder brother (Eliakim) Jehoiakim on the throne, and laid the land under a heavy tribute.

Jehoiakim was compelled to tax the people, in order to raise the tribute money for Pharaoh. He also, like his brother, did evil in the sight of the Lord. It is plain now that many of the royal household could not have partaken in the revival of pure religion under Josiah. The hearts of these sons remained untouched. We hear little of the first year of his reign, but from hints in the prophecy of Jeremiah, we may gather that he was oppressive to the people, and the determined enemy of the prophets. In the third year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against him and took him captive, with the design of removing him to Babylon; but afterwards restored him to the throne. Some of the vessels of the temple, and a number of the people, among whom was Daniel, were at this time carried to Babylon. In the following year the Egyptians were defeated on the banks of the Euphrates. (Jer. xlvi. 2.) In the same year Jeremiah caused a collection of his prophecies to be made, and to be publicly read in the temple. Jehoiakim sent for it, to hear what it contained. Displeased with its bold reproofs, he took the leaves as they were read and cast them into the fire. Upon this a new roll was made, to which were added heavier denunciations still. But all this had no effect upon the king.

After three years he threw off the yoke of the Chaldeans, in the face of the earnest remonstrances of Jeremiah. For this he lost his throne. The armies of the Chaldeans soon came, and took possession of Jerusalem. Jehoiakim was slain, and his body left without burial, as Jeremiah had foretold. He reigned eleven years. The king of Babylon placed his son Jehoiachin on the throne; but soon afterwards returned and besieged Jerusalem. When Nebuchadnezzar appeared before the city, Jehoiachin immediately went out and surrendered, with all his family and the whole court. He was carried to Babylon, with all his household, princes, artificers, craftsmen, and smiths, to the number of ten, or perhaps eighteen thousand men. With these there were taken also the royal treasures, the treasures of the temple, and the vessels of the temple, which Solomon had made. Little was left now but the mere form of nationality. Still it was not now Nebuchadnezzar’s purpose to destroy Jerusalem. Accordingly lie placed (Mattaniali) Zedekiah, the youngest son of Josiah, upon the throne. Jehoiacbin, as we afterwards learn, was held as a captive until i^Tebuchadnezzar’s death, when he was taken from prison, and made to sit at the king’s table, “and his throne was placed above the thrones of all the captive kings at Babylon.”

Zedekiah was but twenty-one when he began to reign. He followed in the footsteps of his father, and, as a consequence, was left of God without support in his afflictions. He followed the advice of his nobles, rather than that of Jeremiah. In the fourth year of his reign (Jer. li. 59) he went to Babylon, and returned. In the face of the most solemn oath, he rebelled against the king of Babylon, (probably about the ninth year of his reign,) and made alliance with Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar soon came to punish his faithless vassal. In the ninth year and the tenth month, he laid siege to Jerusalem. For a year and a half it resisted the whole force of the Chaldeans. AVhile the siege was going forward, the king of Egypt came and interrupted the progress of the Chaldean arms. In these moments of respite, Zedekiah sent to Jeremiah to inquire what would be the fate of the war, and to ask his prayers for success. Jeremiah replied that the Chaldeans should return and capture the city. When the prophet attempted to pass from the city, to the land of his inheritance, he was arrested, under the pretence that he was about deserting to the enemy, and cast into prison. For a time he was cruelly treated; afterwards he was placed in the court of the prison, but at last, at the instigation of the nobles, cast into a loathsome dungeon, from which he was taken at the request of Ebed-melech, one of the king’s servants.*

As Jeremiah foretold, the Chaldeans returned; and in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, and the fourth month, the city was broken up, and the men of war fled. It was only by the closest blockade that this result was secured. Zedekiah was pursued and overtaken at Jericho, and brought to Nebuchadnezzar, who was then at Riblah. By the command of the Babylonian king, his sons were inhumanly slain before his eyes, and his eyes then put out, and the miserable king, loaded with irons, was home to Babylon.

In the following month, Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, came to Jerusalem, burnt the temple, the royal palace, all the houses of the nobles, and brake down the walls. The brazen pillars, and all the vessels of the temple which remained, were now carried to Babylon. The officers of Zedekiah were taken

* The prophetic writings of Jeremiah, while they do not contain so many historical statements, are yet so connected with the history, that we must read them in connection with these latter reigns, if we wish to gain any correct view of the moral state of the nation.

to Hiblah and slain. The common people were scattered over the land for the purpose of tillage; and a number still were carried to Babylon. The kingdom of Judah had thus existed about three hundred and eighty-seven years after the separation. It fell solely from the transgressions of the people and their rulers. God dealt with them in great forbearance, “sending to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place. But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.” Therefore they were carried as servants unto Babylon; “until the land should enjoy her sabbaths.” The history of these nations of Judah and Israel, would be worth studying (if for no other reason) for the lessons of political wisdom which might here be learned; for God deals with nations now as then. The principles of his administration are always the same. The causes of national prosperity or adversity lie in the moral condition of the people. The decay of national strength must go on at equal steps with the progress of national corruption. We mistake greatly, and deprive ourselves of the benefit of this part of history, if we suppose that the Israelites are, or were, the only nation who sufi’er for their sins. They are not the exception, but the example; whose history has been written in its true light, and stands out as a warning and a lesson to those who are engaged in the work of governing the nations.

SECTIOX XX.

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE JEWS IN THEIR CAPTIVITY.

Jeremiah was found among the captives at Riblah, and left free to go into Babylon or remain in the land. He chose to return to Judah, and placed himself with Gedaliah, who had been made ruler over the people in Judah. Gedaliah was successful in recalling around him a number of the men of Judah, who took the oath of allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar. The Jews also, from Moab, and Edom, and Ammon, returned and placed themselves under Gedaliah. Ilis course, however, was soon ended. A part of those who had escaped the Babylonians, regarded him as in some way the cause of their misfortune. Among these was Ishmael, “one of the seed royal,” who, with ten others, conspired agaist Gedaliah, and slew him at Mizpah. All the Jews who were with the governor were slain also. These conspirators, in turn, were conquered by Johanan, one of Gedaliah’s oflScers, and driven to take refuge among the Ammonites.

Johanan, fearing the vengeance of the Chaldeans, in spite of Jeremiah’s remonstrances, took the remnant of Juclah, and the king Zedekiah’s daughters, and Jeremiah the prophet, and fled into Egypt.

Five years afterwards, Nebuzar-adan again visited Jerusalem, and made a final deportation of the inhabitants to Babylon. The remnant which was left attract no more attention. They seem to have been without any government, or perhaps to have fallen under the mixed population and religion of Samaria. The land was utterly desolate, and enjoyed its Sabbaths.

The Jews in captivity were gradually gaining in favour with their conquerors, though oftentimes insulted and reproached for their faith — (see 137th Psalm.) Yet, as Daniel came into power, and the throne of Babylon became vacant by the insanity of Nebuchadnezzar, the reign of their bondage was materially alleviated.

We learn also from Ezekiel, as well as from the circumstances attending their return, that they were acquiring wealth and importance.

In the meantime they saw the power which had subdued them gradually going to decay. Rent with intestine quarrels, and threatened with the growing power of the Persians, it could not long endure. At last the Persian army came to Babylon itself. The Chaldee forces were no match for these new foes. After a single battle the Babylonian king fled, and took refuge in his capital. After a siege of one year, Babylon itself, unexpectedly, while the king was revelling in his sensual pleasures, (and had sacrilegiously turned the vessels from the temple into drinking cups for himself and his princes,) fell into the hands of Cyrus. With his accession began the Jews’ release.