PERIOD VI.]

PROPHECIES OF AMOS.

prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit: and the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel." He then spoke of the miserable end of Amaziah and his family, and repeated the prophecy of the captivity of Israel. He also prophesied of the future prosperity of Israel, and their return to their own land, saying, "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel; and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God."

Hosea prophesied in the reign of Jeroboam II. He declared that the sins of the people were swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery, and that there was no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

Eleven years after the death of Jeroboam, (during which time there was no king) Zachariah his son began to reign.

LESSON 104. 2 KINGS XV. 8-26; & 2 CHRON. xxvi. 16-21.

Kings of Israel. Uzziah's Transgression.

Zachariah, the son of Jeroboam, reigned but six months in Israel; for Shallum conspired against him, and slew him before the people, and reigned in his stead. This was the word of the Lord which he spake unto Jehu, saying, "Thy sons shall sit on

UZZIAH'S SIN. THE PRIESTS RESIST HIM. [975-606 B.c. the throne of Israel unto the fourth generation." And so it came to pass. Shallum reigned in Samaria but one month, for Menahem went up from Tirzah, and came to Samaria, and smote Shallum in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead. Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and the coasts thereof from Tirzah; because they opened not to him. Menahem reigned ten years in Samaria; and he did that which was evil by walking in the sins of Jeroboam. In his reign Pul, the king of Assyria, came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul tribute, a thousand talents of silver, which he exacted from the mighty men of wealth; so the king of Assyria turned back to his own land. Menahem was succeeded by his son Pekahiah, who reigned two years and did evil. He was slain by Pekah, one of his captains, who usurped the throne.

Uzziah transgressed against God by going into the temple to burn incense. Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the Lord that were valiant men; and they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, "It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense; go out of the sanctuary for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the LORD God." Then Uzziah was angry, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was angry with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, from beside the incense altar. And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the Lord had smitten him. And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a separate house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of the Lord; and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.

PERIOD VI.] JOTHAM AND AHAZ REIGN.

MICAH PROPHESIES.

Tiphsah-a city of Ephraim about six miles from Samaria. Another Tiphsah was seated on the river Euphrates.

Assyria-an ancient kingdom of Asia, south of Armenia; its great city was Nineveh, which was built by Asshur. The kingdom of Assyria was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, and annexed to the empire of Babylon.

LESSON 105.

Jotham was

2 CHRON. XXVi. 22, 23; xxvii. xxviii. 1-3. 2 KIN. XV. 6, 7, 32-35-xvi. 1-6. ISA. vii.-ix. Jotham and Ahaz Reign. Isaiah Prophesies. Uzziah died in the second year of Pekah's reign. then twenty-five years old, and he did that which was right. Howbeit the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. He built the higher gate of the house of the Lord. He built cities in the mountains, and castles, and towers in the forests. He prevailed against the Ammonites, so that they paid tribute to him. He became mighty because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God. Isaiah began to prophesy at the beginning of his reign. Jotham reigned sixteen years. Ahaz succeeded Jotham as king of Judah; he not only followed the idolatries of the kings of Israel, but he followed other idolatries and abominations of the heathen nations. Micah prophesied in this reign: he reproved the princes and prophets of Judah and Israel, and said, "Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.' Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, invaded Jerusalem, and besieged Ahaz; they could not overcome him, but Ahaz was afraid when he heard that they were leagued together against him. Isaiah was commissioned to say unto him, "Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be faint-hearted," because Rezin and Pekah have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, "Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for

ISAIAH PROPHESIES OF CHRIST.

[975-606 B.C.

us, and set a king in the midst of it. Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass." Isaiah also predicted, that within threescore-and-five years Israel should not be a people.

Isaiah foretold the coming of Christ, saying, "Behold, a virgin shall... bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel;" the people of Zebulun and Naphtali were to see the great light shine; the light of the Gospel, or the beginning of the kingdom of Christ. He thus describes the blessed effects of Christ's ministry in Israel : "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation, wilt thou not increase the joy? they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian." Isaiah also predicted the future glorious reign of the Saviour, saying, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."

Zebulun-the division of Canaan allotted to this tribe, the descendants of the tenth son of Jacob, was south of Asher and Naphtali, north of Issachar, and had the sea of Cinnereth to the east, and the Mediterranean to the west. Naphtali-this portion of Canaan was inhabited by the descendants of the sixth son of Jacob, whose mother was Bilhah. It was bounded on the north by Lebanon, west by Asher, and east by the Jordan and the sea of Cinnereth. It was one of the most fertile and beautiful of the provinces of Palestine, it abounded in timber and fruits; its chief towns were Abel-beth-maachah, Harosheth of the Gentiles, Hamath, Cinnereth, and Kedesh.

PERIOD VI.]

JUDAH IN BONDAGE TO ISRAEL.

LESSON 106. 2 CHRON. XXviii. 4-15; 24, 25. 2 KINGS XV.

Wickedness and Captivity of Ahaz.

It is said of the idolatry of Ahaz that he sacrificed and burned incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. Therefore the Lord delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria, and he and a great multitude of his people were taken captive to Damascus. Ahaz was also delivered for his sins into the hand of Pekah, the king of Israel, who slew in Judah 120,000 valiant men in one day, and carried away captive 200,000 persons, and brought the spoil to Samaria. But a prophet of the Lord was there named Oded; and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, "Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up unto heaven. And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the LORD your God? Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren; for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you." Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim stood up and said unto them that came from the war, "Ye shall not bring in the captives hither." So the armed men set them at liberty before the princes of Israel, who clothed them, and fed them, and put the feeble on asses, and brought them to Jericho to their brethren. Obadiah prophesied of the destruction of Edom, for her pride, and for her wrongs, and violence to Jacob, saying, "There shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau, for the LORD hath spoken it."

Rezin, king of Syria, recovered Elath to Syria; he drove the Jews from Elath, and the Syrians came and dwelt there. Ahaz