59. Israel from B.C. 897 to 771

Israel from B.C. 897 to 771

Chapter V

Timeline View:

The prophets Jonah, Amos, Hoshea, flourish in the time of Jeroboam II—Isaiah begins in the last year of Uzziah.

1. Ahab was succeeded, in Israel, by his son Ahaziah, who adhered to the abominations which his father had added to those of Jeroboam. The chief events of his reign were the revolt of the Moabites, and his unfortunate alliance with Jehoshaphat in the attempt to recover the maritime traffic by the Red Sea. Being greatly injured by a fall from the lattice of an upper chamber, Ahaziah sent messengers to consult the oracle of Baal-Zebub, the fly-god of Ekron, respecting his recovery. The messengers were intercepted by Elijah the prophet, who sent them back, and afterwards went himself, to denounce, as a punishment of his impious abandonment of the God of Israel, and his resorting to foreign idols, that he should rise no more from the bed on which he had lain down. Accordingly he died, after a reign of two years.

2. Having no sons, Ahaziah was succeeded by his brother Jehoram or Joram. He removed the foreign and recent idolatries; but would not interfere with the golden calves of Jeroboam, probably on account of the political considerations connected with their worship. The first year of this reign was distinguished by one of the most extraordinary events in Biblical history—the translation to heaven of the prophet Elijah, who was taken away by a whirlwind in a chariot and horses of fire. Elisha was present; and on him the mantle and the power of his master devolved. This was soon proved; for the Jordan, when smitten by the prophetic mantle, opened to give him passage, as it had before done to Elijah; at his word the bitter waters of Jericho were made sweet; and, soon after, his curse brought bears from the wood to destroy some young men who mocked at the translation of Elijah and insulted his successor. By these signs Elisha, although a man of different temperament and habits, became known to all Israel as one invested with the spirit and power of Elijah.

3. The beginning of Jehoram’s reign was prosperous; for, as Elisha declared, on account of Jehoshaphat having joined him in the enterprise, his army was, by a special interposition of Providence, delivered from circumstances of great danger, and enabled to subdue the Moabites, who had revolted in the preceding reign. In this campaign, the king of Moab, when besieged by the allies in his capital, and pressed to extremities, offered up in sacrifice his eldest son, upon the wall of the city, hoping thus to render his idols propitious. Horror-struck at such a sight, the allies raised the siege and returned home. Elisha also returned to Samaria, where, in his prophetic capacity, he wrought several signal miracles, which gave him a great and useful influence with the people.

4. The partial reformations with which Jehoram commenced his reign, were not the result of decided principles. They were, therefore, soon abandoned, or not carried out; and both king and people speedily relapsed into the former idolatries. This was punished by a new invasion by the Syrians under their king Benhadad. He subdued the whole country to the metropolis, Samaria, which he could only hope to reduce by famine, and to which, therefore, he laid siege. The famine and attendant miseries which were experienced in Samaria during this siege defy description. The extremity of hunger at length became so great, that every kind of edible substance, however unusual or unwholesome, was devoured; and some women were known to have eaten the flesh of their own children. When the king heard of this he rent his robes with horror and anguish of soul, and disclosed the penitential sackcloth which he wore next his skin. But he was still as far as ever from a right mind. His indignation turned against Elisha, whom he supposed to have the power to avert these evils; and he swore that he should be put to death that day. Aware of this intention, the prophet refused to admit the king’s messenger into the house he occupied. Jehoram himself followed, perhaps to countermand the order he had given; and to him the prophet announced an immediate deliverance, and a superabundance of provisions in Samaria on the following day. This seemed incredible to some of those who heard the announcement. But the night following it was found that the Syrians had raised the siege and fled away in great alarm, leaving every thing behind them. They had miraculously been made to hear a noise of a vast host of chariots and horses, which led them to conclude that the Israelites had purchased relief from the neighboring states; hence their panic and its consequences. The delivered and famished citizens rushed upon the forsaken camp, in which they found rich spoils and great abundance of food.

5. Towards the end of this reign, the king of Syria, Benhadad, was secretly murdered in his sick-bed by Hazael, one of his chief officers, who then usurped the throne. Soon after this, Jehoram determined to make another effort to recover Ramoth-Gilead from the Syrians; and, as we have seen in the previous chapter, persuaded Ahaziah, the king of Judah, to go with him. The king of Israel was severely wounded and obliged to leave the army and retire to Jezreel, and was soon followed by Ahaziah. Long before this, when in Horeb, Elijah had been commissioned to anoint, as king of Israel, Jehu, the son of Nimshi, who was to execute the doom of extermination upon the house of Ahab. This charge he had delayed to execute, and it now therefore devolved upon Elisha. Now, Jehu was one of the generals left is charge of the military operations before Ramoth-Gilead after the king had departed. One of the “sons of the prophets” was sent to anoint him there, and to charge him at once to execute his commission as the Lord’s avenger upon the house of Ahab. Jehu was popular with the army; and when the officers heard of this appointment they hailed it with acclamations and immediately proclaimed him publicly as king of Israel. They then followed Jehu to Jezreel, whither, with his usual promptitude, he determined to proceed at once before any others could convey the tidings. When his approach was discovered from the walls of that city, Jehoram, quite ignorant of these transactions, and being impatient to know whether he returned from the war in triumph or defeat, went forth to meet him, accompanied by the king of Judah. But when they met in the fatal field of Naboth, after a few bitter words John slew him, and his body was left unburied in the open field. Ahaziah of Judah, being of the house of Ahab by his mother Athaliah, was also slain; but his body was conveyed for interment to Jerusalem.

6. As Jehu entered Jezreel, the queen-mother Jezebel presented herself, royally arrayed, at a window of the palace; but at the command of Jehu, she was cast down by her own servants, and dashed to pieces, and trodden under foot by the horses. It was found, not long after, that her body had been devoured by dogs, according to the prediction of Elijah. The rest of Ahab’s family, seventy in number, who were at Samaria, were killed, and their heads sent to Jehu by the men in authority there, in evidence of their obedience to the new king. After he had rooted out all of the doomed race that were in Jezreel; he proceeded himself to Samaria, and extirpated all who bore affinity to the family. The establishment at Samaria for the service of Baal—temple, idol, and priests—were totally destroyed by Jehu; and he denounced a similar fate against whoever should attempt to revive what he had overthrown. The consequence of this severe proceeding was, that the idolatry of Baal never again gained head in Israel; although idolatry itself was far from being destroyed. Indeed, Jehu made no attempt to interfere with the golden calves; and, altogether, his zeal, although effective and vehement in operation, only led him to do what coincided with his own interest or humor. For the completeness with which he had accomplished his avenging mission, it was promised to Jehu that his dynasty should endure for four generations. The defects of his obedience probably prevented a more extended duration; but still his family sat on the throne above a hundred years, which is longer than the rule of any other dynasty in Israel. The result of the war east of the Jordan was, that Hazael proved victorious, and deprived Israel of all its possessions on that side the river. Jehu reigned twenty-eight years.

7. He was succeeded by his son Jehoahaz, who also adhered to the schismatical worship and institutions of the golden calves. For this the Syrians were allowed to extend their power to the west of the Jordan, and so to prevail, that at length the whole force left to the king of Israel consisted of no more than fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and 10,000 infantry. Jehoahaz reigned seventeen years.

8. Joash, his son, then ascended the throne. Soon after he visited the prophet Elisha when on his deathbed, and was encouraged by the dying prophet, who assured him of three successive victories over the Syrians. He accordingly ventured to rise against them, and succeeded in expelling them from his dominions. He also repulsed the Moabites, who invaded his territories. These successes procured for troubled Israel a few years of tranquillity and peace. Joash reigned sixteen years.

9. Jeroboam II then succeeded his father. He was as had as most of his predecessors; and the condition of the Israelites was daily becoming more depressed. The country was successively invaded by the Syrians, Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites; who, however, were severally defeated and driven off by Jeroboam, encouraged by the prophet Jonah (b.c. 823). Jeroboam reigned forty-one years. During this reign the Lord began by his prophets to warn the Israelites of the doom of captivity and dispersion, which their crimes would speedily bring down upon them. The prophets were Hosea, Amos, and Jonah.

10. The reign of Jeroboam was followed by an interregnum of eleven years, occasioned probably by the infancy of his son Zechariah. It was at this period that the prophet Jonah was sent on his reluctant mission to Nineveh, of which an interesting account is given in the book that bears his name. During the interregnum, the country fell into such a state of anarchy and confusion, that at length the remedy was adopted of calling Zechariah to the throne of his fathers.

11. Zechariah, the last king of the race of Jehu, wielded the scepter of Israel only six months. He was not equal to the emergencies of the times, and was put to death by one Shallum, who usurped the government. Thus endured as promised, and ended as foretold, the dynasty of Jehu.

12. During the period embraced by this chapter, the prophets Jonah, Amos, and Hosea, flourished and prophesied. Jonah appears to have lived in the time of Jeroboam II; he was a native of Gath-hepher, in Zebulon. The book which bears his name is occupied by a narrative of his mission to Nineveh, to warn that great city of an impending destruction, which was averted by the repentance and humiliation of the inhabitants. Amos belonged to the same time: he was a dresser of sycamore fruit, and began to prophesy at Bethel; but being driven thence by Amaziah, the high-priest of the golden calf, he retired to Tekoah in Judah, and found employment as a herdsman. It is from this place that his written prophesies are dated. They are replete with images drawn from the objects in rural life, with which his avocations made him conversant: and their object is to denounce the destruction of the surrounding nations; to alarm the negligent by the declaration of national punishments; and to hold forth comforting promises of the future Messiah. Hosea lived at the same time with Amos, but appears to have survived hum. Little is known of his history; but he is supposed to have been of the kingdom of Israel, as his denunciations of vengeance, mixed with promises of mercy, are chiefly directed against the iniquities into which the ten tribes had fallen.

Taking a City by Battle