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PERIOD VI.]

JEROBOAM'S IDOLATRY.

to fight-another example of Reho-capital was at first Shechem and afterboam's imprudence, but God forbade the wards Samaria. The kings of Israel war between brethren. and their people fell into gross idolatry, and disregarded the warnings of the prophets whom God sent to them.

Shemaiah-there never was wanting a succession of prophets during the existence of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel.

hearkened-the first instance of wisdom manifested by this foolish king. Solomon came to the throne wise, though a young man; Rehoboam was foolish although he was forty years old.

GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. ISRAEL-the kingdom of the ten tribes which revolted from Rehoboam, and chose Jeroboam to be their king. Its

JUDAH-the kingdom of Judah was death of Solomon; its metropolis was separated from that of Israel after the Jerusalem, its first king Rehoboam. It embraced the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and parts of those of Simeon and Dan. Many of the kings of Judah adhered to the true worship of God, while others fell into gross idolatry. The people of Judah never so totally forsook God as the people of Israel.

INSTRUCTION.

Let children hear the mighty deeds
Which God perform'd of old;
Which in our younger years we saw
And which our fathers told.

He bids us make his glories known,
His works of power and grace;
And we'll convey his wonders down
Through every rising race.

Our lips shall tell them to our sons,
And they again to theirs,

That generations yet unborn

May teach them to their heirs.

Thus shall they learn in God alone
Their hope securely stands,

That they may ne'er forget his works,
But practise his commands.

WATTS.

74. JEROBOAM'S IDOLATRY.

1 Kings xii. 25; xiii.

Jeroboam built Shechem in Mount Ephraim and dwelt therein; and Jeroboam said in his heart," Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: if this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto

THE ALTAR AT BETHEL RENT. [975-606 B.C.

Rehoboam, king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam, king of Judah." Whereupon the king took counsel and made two calves of gold, and said unto the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. And he made a house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi; and he offered sacrifice upon the altar which he had made at Bethel. Now as Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God out of Judah, and he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, "O 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 burned upon thee." And he gave a sign the same day, saying, " This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken; Behold the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out."

When Jeroboam heard the words of the prophet he stretched forth his hand to lay hold on him, and his hand dried up so that he could not pull it to him again. The altar was also rent, and the ashes poured out. The king asked the man of God to pray that his hand might be restored; and he besought the Lord, and the king's hand became as it was before. Jeroboam asked the man of God to go home with him and refresh himself, but he refused, saying, " If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread, nor drink water in this place for so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest." So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.

There dwelt an old prophet at Bethel, and his sons went and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. The old prophet of Bethel rode after him, and told him he also was a prophet, and that an angel of the Lord had

PERIOD VI.]

THE PROPHET PUNISHED.

told him to bring him back, that he might eat bread and drink water. The man of God ·did as the old prophet desired him. And as they sat at table, the word of the Lord came to the man of God from Judah, saying, "Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, but camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers." As he was afterwards returning home from Bethel, a lion slew him by the way. And the old prophet of Bethel had his carcase laid in his own grave, and charged his sons to lay his bones by the side of the bones of the man of God, saying that his word against Bethel 'should surely come to pass. After this Jeroboam returned not from his evil way.

NOTES AND EXPLANATIONS.

built Shechem-he enlarged and beautified the old town (Judges ix. 35), so as to render it a city becoming the residence of a king. He also built or fortified Penuel, so that he

had a strong city on the west, and another on the east of his kingdom. On the hills between which Shechem lay-Gerizim and Ebal-the blessings for obedience and the cursings for disobedience were pronounced.

Les. 31. Here was both encouragement and

warning for Jeroboam and his people.

return-Jeroboam first distrusted God's promises (Les. 72), and then adopted a line of conduct which resulted in the defection of the entire nation from the worship and service of Jehovah.

their lord-an admission that the sovereign rule did not belong to him.

took counsel his accomplices concurred

in the suggestion.

when he made the calf in the wilderness; Exod. xxxii. 4. Les. 23.

worship-Les. 23, 'worshipped.'

tions were held sacred by the people of the high places-mountains or elevated situaeast, because of their comparative nearness to the visible heavens; hence they were generally appropriated to religious worshipsometimes that of the true God, but generally to the worship of idols; Gen. xii. 7,8;

xxii. 2; 2 Kings xvii. 9-11. Before the erection of the temple the people of Israel sacrificed to the Lord upon high places; 1 Sam. ix. 12,19,25; 1 Chron. xvi. 39; but it was an abomination to do so afterwards; 2 Chron. vi. 5.

priests-the Levites maintained their fidelity to God, refusing to countenance the impiety of Jeroboam; he punished them by depriving them of their possessions; 2 Chron. xi. 14. To supply their place he selected men from all parts of the country, and out of every tribe and family, to perform the duties of the priesthood upon the high places. Until the introduction of the worship of Baal, Ashtaroth, and other false deities, the office of these priests conbehold-Aaron used the same expression sisted only in the offering of sacrifice.

two calves-by some supposed to be in imitation of the idolatrous worship of the Egyptians, among whom he had lived; by others that the idols were in imitation of the cherubim on the mercy seat. Les. 23, 'calf;'' cherubim.'

"THE DISOBEDIENT PROPHET." [975-606 B.C.

were among the worshippers at Bethel, and he himself was guilty of uttering a gross falsehood in the name of the Lord.

stood by-it appears that he combined the old prophet-there is no intimation given office of chief sacrificer, if not of high-as to who he was, but it is evident he was priest, with that of king. The formation not wholly on the Lord's side, for his sons of the ten tribes into a separate kingdom was characterized not only by murder, but also by idolatry; and from this period to the time of the captivity-about 400 years, the sin of Jeroboam-of setting up the golden calves in order to withdraw the people from the worship of God in Jerusalem, was followed by all the kings of

Israel.

Josiah Jehovah's fire;' he was born 330 years after this prediction.

eat no bread-his compliance with this eastern custom would have signified his friendship towards him, and thus compromised the solemn message he had just delivered. Les. 31, 'covenant.'

did as the prophet of Judah was taken in a snare; the old prophet's motive does not appear, but probably a feeling of kindness suggested the plan for bringing back the prophet of Judah.

shall not come-Lesson 54, 'buried.'

slew him-the awful punishment inflicted on the disobedient prophet, and the fact that the lion did not mangle the dead body, nor kill the prophet's ass, would soon counteract any doubt that might arise as to the divine message which he had delivered.

should surely-Lesson 113, fulfilled.'

THE DISOBEDIENT PROPHET.

"IT IS THE MAN OF GOD WHO WAS DISOBEDIENT UNTO THE WORD
OF THE LORD."

Prophet of God, arise and take

With thee the words of wrath divine,
The scourge of Heaven, to shake
O'er yon apostate shrine.

Go, with thy voice the altar rend,
Scatter the ashes, be the arm,
That idols would befriend,
Shrunk at thy withering charm.

Then turn thee, for thy time is short,
But trace not o'er the former way,
Lest idol pleasures court
Thy heedless soul astray.

Thou know'st how hard to hurry by,
Where on the lonely woodland road
Beneath the moonlight sky
The festal warblings flow'd;

Where maidens to the Queen of Heaven
Wove the gay dance round oak or palm,
Or breath'd their vows at even

In hymns as soft as balm.

PERIOD VI.]

REHOBOAM FORSAKES GOD.

Trust not the dangerous path again—
O froward step and lingering will!
O lov'd and warn'd in vain!

And wilt thou perish still?

Thy message given, thine home in sight,
To the forbidden feast return?

Yield to the false delight

Thy better soul could spurn?

Alas, my brother! round thy tomb
In sorrow kneeling, and in fear,
We read the Pastor's doom

Who speaks and will not hear.

KEBLE.

75. REHOBOAM'S SIN. SHISHAK'S INVASION. 1 Kings xiv. 21-3 & 2 Chronicles xi. 5-xii.

Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defence in Judah, and fortified the strong places and stored them with victuals, and put captains in them, and in every several city he put shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side. The priests and Levites out of Israel resorted to him, for Jeroboam had cast them off from executing the priest's office and out of all the tribes of Israel such came as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel. All these strengthened the kingdom. of Judah, and for three years Rehoboam walked after the ways of David and Solomon. After this Rehoboam forsook the law of the Lord, and the people of Judah provoked God, and committed greater sins than their fathers had done. For they built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree; and they did according to all the abomination of the nations which the Lord 'cast out before the children of Israel.

God permitted Shishak to invade Judah, for the sins of Rehoboam. Shemaiah announced to Rehoboam and the princes that, because they had forsaken God, he had delivered them into the hands of Shishak. Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves; and they said, “The

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