restored as before. Jeroboam now asked the man who had warned him to come and share his hospitality. "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 charged me by the Lord, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest." It will be remembered that Bethel was the seat of a school of the prophets. The 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. While 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 had 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 charged his 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 his 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 he did not lose any part of his kingdom without a struggle. The 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 many 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 smoth

The contest terminated,

ered enmity breaks out into open war. 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. O 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 dispirited 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 energy 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 comes 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; 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 off 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, which 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, O Lord our God, for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O 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 returning 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 Baasha, 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 Zerah, 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 36th 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 if 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 35th year after the separation. We cannot be certain, however, where the mistake lies. It may easily have entered in the course of so many years, and many transcriptions.