LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF JEHU.

I

All zeal is not pure, even when it accomplishes the divine purposes.

3. One may do a good and useful work with low, worldly, and selfish motives, and yet take great credit to himself as a servant of God.

4.

wrong.

5.

The boastful spirit that would be seen of men proves that the heart and motives are

A good work may be done in a wrong manner and with sinful means. One should not battle for the truth with the weapons of falsehood (Rom. 3:8).

6.

We must often commend the thing done, while we cannot approve the way in which it is done. We must be careful not to let our approval of the work endorse the bad acts which accompany it.

7. The worldly, in doing a good work, seek the endorsement and approval of the devoted Christian.

8. How great a change can be briefly made when God's time has come to destroy the wicked. Lowrie.

9. Jehu is a type of those who show great zeal in tearing down and destroying superstition and false worship, but do nothing to build up the faith, because they themselves have no living faith, and do not walk before God with all their hearts. Lange.

10. Jehu did indeed destroy idolatry, but he did not touch the chief sin of Israel, because he considered it the chief support of his own authority. So many a one renounces gross, external sins, but will not think of denying himself, of sacrificing his own interests, and of turning his heart to the living God. Lange.

II.

Acts done from temporal motives have a temporal reward. Even Pharisees, praying to be seen of men, have their reward.

12.

The destruction of Baal's worshippers. (1) There is a Baal vestment on each of his worshippers seen of God. (2) Not one worshipper of Baal shall escape. (3) Let us so live as not to be mistaken for Baalites. - Newman Hall.

13. Elijah's work completed years after his death. Be not discouraged if you do not see immediate results of your labors for others.

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS.

It will be necessary to read over carefully the INTERVENING HISTORY, and teach the main outlines to the scholars.

A GREAT REVOLUTION now takes place in the history of Israel. The work of Elijah is completed years after his death.

SUBJECT, TRUE AND FALSE ZEAL.

I. THE NEW KING, JEHU. Draw from the scholars a brief history of this man, and the way he became king, and his first acts as king.

II. HIS FIRST EXHIBITION OF ZEAL, -IN THE DESTRUCTION OF THE HOUSE OF AHAB (vers. 15-17). The reason for this destruction in the sins of Ahab and his house, and the ruin they had brought and were bringing upon the nation.

Illustrations. The righteousness of executing laws against criminals; of defending a home or a nation against robbers and destroyers. As we destroy wild beasts who otherwise would destroy us and ours.

Find the good and the false elements in this exhibition of zeal. A good work may be done with bad or selfish motives. Jehu's advantage in this work of his.

Illustrations from paste diamonds and imitation jewels.

III. HIS SECOND EXHIBITION OF ZEAL, · IN THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WORSHIPPERS OF BAAL (vers. 18-28).

Illustration of Jehu's treacherous promise to the Baalites, from the story in early Roman history of the Sabine maiden who agreed to betray the garrison of her father for what the Roman soldiers wore on their left arms, meaning their golden bracelets. They agreed to give the price asked. But when they entered the city they cast their shields, which they also wore on their left arms, upon the traitor maiden, and killed her.

Note the good and the bad elements in this exhibition of zeal.

IV. THE IMPERFECTION OF JEHU'S WORK (vers. 29-31). This shows that his zeal in what he did was imperfect, and the source of the imperfection in a bad and selfish heart. Note especially the temporal reward for outward service, and the utter failure to receive the higher and more spiritual rewards, and why.

Illustrate by the prayers and alms of the Pharisees (Matt. 6:1-5).

LESSON IV. OCT. 25.

THE TEMPLE REPAIRED.

2 KINGS 12:1-15.

GOLDEN TEXT. — I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Ps. 122: I.

TIME. The repairs on the temple were completed B.C. 856, in the 23d year of the reign of Joash, king of Judah; about the time of the death of Jehu, and therefore 28 years after our last lesson.

RULERS. — Joash, king of Judah (B.C. 878-839); Jehoahaz, king of Israel (B.C. 856-841); Hazael, king of Syria (B.c. 885-839); Shalmanezer, king of Assyria; the prophet Elisha still living in Israel.

INTERVENING HISTORY. 2 Kings 11; and 2 Chron. 22 and 23.
CORRESPONDING HISTORY. - 2 Chron. 24: I−14.
PRONUNCIATIONS. —Athǎli'ǎh; Ahăzi'ǎh;

Jěhō'ash; Jěhosh'ĕbă; Zīb'iǎh.

Beer'-shěbă; Jěhöï'ădă; Jē'hū;

INTRODUCTION.

We are now transferred by the history to the kingdom of Judah. While Jehu was making his zealous reforms in Israel, as recorded in our last lesson, Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab, and mother of the last king, Ahaziah, had usurped the throne of Judah, and attempted to destroy all the royal family of Judah which had survived the former massacres, so that she might herself be queen. "It so happened, however, that a daughter of Jehoram, and sister of Ahaziah, whose name was Jehosheba, had married Jehoida, the high priest, a good and noble man, and sympathized more with her husband than with her step-mother. When her mother commanded her little nephews to be killed, she succeeded in stealing away the youngest of them, named Joash, at that time a mere infant, and concealing him, with his nurse, in one of the storerooms of the temple." Athaliah reigned for six years in Jerusalem. She preserved and encouraged the worship of Baal, and defiled and broke up the temple, and carried the dedicated things from it to the house of Baal. When Joash was about seven years old, "Jehoiada, deeming the times ripe for revolution, after having secretly secured the co-operation of the priests and Levites and many of the chief men of the kingdom, produced the young king, and publicly crowned him in the temple. The revolution was successful; the queen Athaliah was slain; and Joash was universally acknowledged."

1

1. In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash began to reign; and forty years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba.

12 Chron. 24: 1.

EXPLANATORY.

King

I. The Reign of Joash. -- Vers. 1-3. 1. In the seventh year of Jehu. of Israel (B.C. 878). Jehoash. Shortened to Joash (whom Jehovah gave). Began to reign. When he was seven years old (2 Chron. 24: 1). He was the eighth king of Judah, and son of Ahaziah, and hence a great-grandson of Ahab (see Introduction). For many years Joash was naturally very much under the influence of Jehoiada; and during this period his reign was an excellent and prosperous one. The very first act of Jehoiada, in the king's name, was to bind the people to the abolishment of the worship of Baal, and the restoration of the worship of Jehovah. In the excitement of the revolution, the people, in a great mob, flew to the temple of Baal, and tore it down, and killed its priest. Forthwith Jehoiada, in the king's name, re-organized the temple-service, so that his worship, which had been falling into decay through three reigns, might be conducted in a more fitting manner. But the building itself had become ruinous, owing to neglect and the depredations which had been made upon it by idolaters and invaders. The king therefore early directed his attention to its restoration. Todd. This great reformation, of which the repairing of the temple was one sign and means, was the chief event of his reign. He had reigned 23 years before it was finished. About that time Jehoiada died, at the age of 130 years. After that, Joash, misled by bad counselors, fell into evil ways. The worship of God was

2. And Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him.

3. But the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

4. And Jehoash said to the priests, 2 All the money of the dedicated things

1 1 Kings 15: 14; 22: 43. 2 Kings 14:4. 22 Kings 22: 4.

neglected, and idolatry again prevailed. In punishment for this his kingdom was invaded by the Syrians, who were bought off at the expense of all the treasures of the palace and the temple. He was finally murdered by his own servant (B.C. 838). The scanty records that remain of the long reign of Joash show him to have been a prince of fine impulses, but easily led by his advisers, and lacking moral courage. Green. Lack of independence, and moral weakness, were the most noticeable features of his character. - Lange. Zibiah of Beer-sheba. Nothing more is known of her.

2. Jehoash did. . . right, etc. Jehoiada the high priest, and his wife, the aunt of Joash, stood in the place of father and mother to the young king. Practically, the high priest was regent. Their influence was very strong, because (1) the king was under great obligations to them, as the preserver of his life, and teacher, and the one who placed him on the throne. (2) Jehoiada's influence began in the very childhood of the king, and there was no reason for breaking away from it. (3) This influence sheltered the king from adverse and idolatrous companions. (4) Jehoiada was a man of great wisdom and moral power.-P. It is evident from the sequel of his history, that the rectitude of his administration was owing more to the salutary influence of his preserver and tutor, Jehoiada, than to the honest and sincere dictates of his own mind. — J., F. and B.

3. But the high places. The unlawful altars to Jehovah built in groves upon hilltops. The Israelites found that all prominent points had been consecrated by the former inhabitants for idol-worship, and they used the same localities in the Jehovah-worship. The idol-worship was full of the vilest impurity, and it was perhaps impossible to worship Jehovah purely amidst the suggestions of the former impurity which those high places called up. Therefore there were strict commands to destroy them (Lev. 26: 30; Num. 33: 52; Deut. 33: 29). Schaff. Were not taken away. (1) Perhaps the king and the high priest did not realize that these were forbidden. (2) The true God was worshipped upon them, although in a wrong way. (3) Possibly they were unable to take them away, — or feared to go farther in their reforms than they had already done, lest they excite revolts among the people.-P. The popular fondness for the private and disorderly rites performed in the groves and recesses of hills was so inveterate that even the most powerful monarchs had been unable to accomplish their suppression.-J., F. and B.

II. The Need of Reformation. (1) Under Athaliah there had been a great religious declension. It must have pervaded the nation, and manifested itself in the neglect of religious services and instruction. (2) The worship in high places, as a perverted and forbidden mode of worship, and doubtless more or less contaminated with the idolatrous impurities of such worship, was another sign and manifestation of religious declension. (3) The temple, the centre of worship, had become out of repair through neglect. Athaliah had "broken up the house of God" (see 2 Chron. 24: 7; which, according to Keil, implies that the revenues of the temple were transferred to Baal). (4) The temple treasures had been given away piecemeal to invaders, even by the most devout of the kings, and had been plundered twice over by the Egyptians and Arabs. The temple became a quarry for the rival sanctuary. The stones and the sacred vessels were employed to build or to adorn the temple of Baal, which rose, as it would seem, even within the temple precincts, with its circle of statues, and its sacred altars. Stanley.

(I) It is a sure sign of religious declension when the house of God is neglected and out of repair. The religious spirit is feeble when the private houses are beautiful and expensive, and the house of God is poor and dilapidated.

(II) God's spiritual temple, the church, is sometimes neglected and needs reformation. That money, and time, and thought, which should be devoted to religion and the spread of the Gospel, is transferred to the temple of Mammon. Prayer and the reading of the Bible declines, in private, and in the family; meetings are poorly attended; few are invited to Christ; worldliness prevails. - P.

III. Reformation, - Dilatory Work. Vers. 4-8. 4. And Jehoash said to the priests. This was some years before the completion of the repairs mentioned later on

that is brought into the house of the LORD, even the money of every one that passeth the account, the money that every man is set at, and all the money that 2 cometh into any man's heart to bring into the house of the LORD,

5. Let the priests take it to them, every man of his acquaintance: and let them repair the breaches of the house, wheresoever any breach shall be found. 6. But it was so, that in the three and twentieth year of king Jehoash 3 the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house.

in the lesson. The king called upon the priests to make these repairs because they had the care of the temple. All the money. Coined money was still unknown. The circulating medium consisted of pieces of silver of varying size, which were weighed in every transaction (Gen. 23: 16; Ezra 8:25; Jer. 32:9). - Todd. Money of the dedicated things. That is, "all the holy (or consecrated) money." Three kinds of money are here designated. (1) Money of every one that passeth the account. The money of persons numbered in the census. This was properly a poll-tax, the half shekel required in the Law (Ex. 30: 13) to be paid by every one above twenty years of age when he passed the numbering. (2) Money that every man is set at. Or valued at; i.e., money to be paid by such as had devoted themselves, or those belonging to them, by vow to Jehovah, which was a variable sum dependent on age, sex, and property (Lev. 27: 2-8). In this case the sum was fixed by the priest. (3) Money that cometh into any man's heart to bring. That is, free gifts for this purpose, which might be large. And this was to be asked for by the priests, who were to present the cause to their acquaintance. It is to be observed that the king did not demand of the priests that they should give up, for the repairs of the temple, any income which properly came to themselves. -Lange. They depended for their support upon the money paid in redemption of trespass and sin offerings (Lev. 5: 15-18; 2 Kings 12: 16). All the revenues mentioned above were devoted by law to the support of the sanctuary and its service (Ex. 30:16). What the king now proposed was, that the priests and Levites should take all these revenues of the temple for their own use, only engaging in return to repair the temple at their own expense. Todd.

5. Every man of his acquaintance. The collection was not to be made at Jerusalem only, but in "all the cities of Judah" (2 Chron. 24: 5), the various priests and Levites being collectors in their own neighborhoods. - Cook. They are not merely to receive, but to go out and ask, as a quicker way of collecting.-Lewis. Let them repair. Let the priests take this matter under their own charge. This restoration was made in this way, (1) because perhaps the royal treasury may have been empty (Ewald); and (2) in order that the entire people might give a physical proof that it had renewed the covenant with Jehovah (chap. 11:17) (Lange); and (3) to interest all the people in the work, and bring them to greater devotion and purer religious life.

6. In the three and twentieth year. Some time after the command was given, but how long is unknown. The priests had not repaired the breaches. Joash had added an injunction to the priests and Levites to hasten the matter (2 Chron. 24: 4), which, however, they did not do; after waiting some time, the king found that the work of restoration had not been begun (Tayler Lewis), or, at least, was far from completion.

REASONS FOR THIS DELAY. (1) There is no reason to suppose that there was any embezzlement of the funds or dishonesty. (2) "They hastened not," because they were not so deeply interested in the work as they ought to have been. (3) The work to be done was very great, and the expense would be very large. The temple, no doubt, required a thorough renovation. Quite apart from the mischiefs wrought by Athaliah, the dilapidations of so large a building, which had now stood for a hundred and fifty years, would be very serious. Green. (4) They probably felt, and not without just cause, that they were entitled to their necessary support before undertaking the expense of repairing the temple; but the revenues of the temple from all sources must have greatly diminished during the prevalence of idolatry, and, in the disorders of the times, there must have been difficulty in collecting them; and as little progress seemed to be made in the repairs, the free-will offerings must have rapidly fallen off. Probably the priests found it impossible to collect from all sources more than was necessary for their bare support, and considered themselves absolved from the duty of making the repairs. Todd. (5) It is not common for people to be very enthusiastic in spending for the public good the income they need themselves, when those for whom it is done will not give their part. Then there was the difficulty of

7.

Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the other priests, and said unto them, Why repair ye not the breaches of the house? now therefore receive no more money of your acquaintance, but deliver it for the breaches of the house.

8. And the priests consented to receive no more money of the people, neither to repair the breaches of the house.

9. But Jehoiada the priest 2 took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid of it, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one cometh into the house of the LORD and the priests that kept the door put therein all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD.

determining what part of the money should be appropriated to the repairs, and what to the support of the priests and the ordinary temple expenses. In truth, Joash had set the priests a hard task; he required them to take the funds for repairing out of their own income, and they not unnaturally found difficulty in settling the proportions.- Tayler Lewis. (6) If they had trusted God and the people more, and repaired the temple, more income would have come in. People are not apt to give freely where all that is given is absorbed in the expenses of the collection. They must see worthy results of their self-denial to stimulate their benevolence.

7. The king Jehoash called for Jehoiada. He, being high priest, had chief charge of this work. And the fact that he, with all his piety and zeal, did not press the work, shows that he felt that there was some good excuse for the delay. He was now very old. Why repair ye not? How many a congregation has fallen into decay and remained so, because those who were appointed to be the builders of it, who ought to have repaired and built it, have not raised their negligent hands (Heb. 12:12). Although no earthly king may ever call them to account, yet the heavenly King, before whose judgment-seat they must appear to give an account of their office, will ask, "Why repair ye not the breaches of the house?" Lange. Receive no more money. That is, of that which belonged to the care and repair of the temple (ver. 4). Hereafter that money should be kept separate.

8. And the priests consented. The first arrangement, that the priests should take all the revenues of the temple, and should be responsible for its repairs, having proved ineffectual, the priests now relinquished the revenues which properly belonged to the maintenance of public worship, retaining only the perquisites allowed them by the law, and were released from their agreement to make the repairs, and the king now took the work of repairing into his own hands. - Todd.

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IV. The Work Pushed Forward to Completion. - Vers. 9-15. 9. Jehoiada took a chest. At the king's commandment (2 Chron. 24:8). So the king constructed the first "money-box" in the well-known form of a chest with a hole in the top. Green. It appears that the chest, was locked, and had a hole bored in its lid only just large enough to admit pieces of silver. The contents therefore could not be touched, except by the royal officers who kept the key. It was thus evident to all that the priests could not tamper with the contributions, and that whatever was dropped into the box would be spent for the object for which it was designed. This encouraged the people to give. It is not certain that the priests deserved this suspicion, but it was natural that suspicion should attach to them in consequence of their having taken the revenues for years without having made any repairs; and doubtless there were some dishonest hands among them, even as there were among the apostles (John 12:6). — Todd. The chest arrangement now accomplished two objects. (1) It permitted the giver to divide his offering for the temple from the offering for the priests, and (2) to see for himself that it was at once put where it could not be applied otherwise than as he intended. - Lange. Both these are important factors in successful contributions. Set it beside the altar. In Chronicles it is said to be "without the gate." It was near the door (or gate) of the priests' court, where the altar stood at no great distance. And the priests put therein all the money. According to the Chron., 24: 9, 10, he did not content himself with placing the chest at the entrance, but had a proclamation made at the same time in Judah and Jerusalem to offer the tax of Moses for the repair of the temple. And all the chief men and all the people rejoiced thereat, and cast their gifts into the chest; that is, they offered their gifts with joy for the purpose that had been proclaimed. Keil.