2 Kings 1

22 : 1 AND they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel. And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth-gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria? And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramoth-gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses. And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to-day. Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king. But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here besides a prophet of the LORD, that we might inquire of him? And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Micaiah the son of Imlah: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Fetch quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah. Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron, and said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until they be consumed. And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper: for the

41. AND Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab 42 king of Israel. Jehoshaphat was thirty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah 43 the daughter of Shilhi. And he walked in all the way of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD: howbeit the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high 44 places. And Jehoshaphat made peace with 45 the king of Israel. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he shewed, and how he warred, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the 46 kings of Judah? And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he put away out of the land. 47 And there was no king in Edom: a deputy 48 was king. Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at 49 Ezion-geber. Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships. But Jehosh- 50 aphat would not. And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.

the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so 11 that they made no war against Jehoshaphat. And some of the Philistines brought Jehoshaphat presents, and silver for tribute; the Arabians also brought him flocks, seven thousand 12 and seven hundred rams, and seven thousand and seven hundred he-goats. And Jehosha- 13 phat waxed great exceedingly; and he built in Judah castles and cities of store. And he had many works in the cities of Judah; and men of war, mighty men of valour, in Jerusalem. 14 And this was the numbering of them according to their fathers’ houses: of Judah, the captains of thousands; Adnah the captain, and with him mighty men of valour three hundred 15 thousand: and next to him Jehohanan the captain, and with him two hundred and four- 16 score thousand: and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, who willingly offered himself 17 unto the LORD; and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of valour: and of Benja- 18 min; Eliada a mighty man of valour, and with him two hundred thousand armed with bow 19 and shield: and next to him Jehozabad, and with him an hundred and fourscore thousand 20 ready prepared for war. These were they that waited on the king, beside those whom the king put in the fenced cities throughout all Judah.

Chap. 18, giving the account of the union of forces between Ahab and Jehoshaphat, the disastrous battle of Ramoth-Gilead, and death of Ahab, is embodied in the latter’s history, Section 15.

19:1 And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. 2 And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the wicked, and love them that hate the LORD? for this thing wrath is 3 upon thee from before the LORD. Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast put away the Asheroth out of the land, and hast set thine heart to seek God. 4 And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again among the people from Beer-sheba to the hill country of Ephraim, and brought them back unto the LORD, the God 5 of their fathers. And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, 6 city by city, and said to the judges, Consider what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but 7 for the LORD; and he is with you in the judgement. Now therefore let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor re- 8 spect of persons, nor taking of gifts. Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites and the priests, and of the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel, for the judgement of 9 the LORD, and for controversies. And they returned to Jerusalem. And he charged them, 10 saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the LORD, faithfully, and with a perfect heart. And whensoever any controversy shall come to you from your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgements, ye shall warn them, that they be not guilty towards the LORD, and so wrath come upon you 11 and upon your brethren: this do, and ye shall not be guilty. And, behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the LORD; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all the king’s matters: also the Levites shall be officers before you. Deal courageously, and the LORD be with the good. 20:1 And it came to pass after this, that the children of Moab, and the children of 2 Ammon and with them some of the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea from Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazon-tamar (the same is En- 3 gedi). And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek unto the LORD; and he proclaimed 4 a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to seek help of the 5 LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new 6 court; and he said, O LORD, the God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and art not thou ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? and in thine hand is power and might, 7 so that none is able to withstand thee. Didst not thou, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for 8 ever? And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, 9 If evil come upon us, the sword, judgement, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house, and before thee, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, 10 and thou wilt hear and save. And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of 11 Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and destroyed them not; behold, how they reward 12 us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that 13 cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee. And all 14 Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, the Levite, of the sons of Asaph, came the spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation; 15 and he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehosha- phat: thus saith the LORD unto you, Fear not ye, neither be dismayed by reason of this 16 great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. To-morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the ascent of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the 17 valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set your- selves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed: to-morrow go out against them; for the LORD is with you. 18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants 19 of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshipping the LORD. And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD, the God 20 of Israel, with an exceeding loud voice. And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be 21 established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed them that should sing unto the LORD, and praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and say, Give thanks unto the LORD; for his 22 mercy endureth for ever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set liers in wait against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against 23 Judah; and they were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made 24 an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. And when Judah came to the watch-tower of the wilderness, they looked upon the multitude; and, behold, 25 they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and there were none that escaped. And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches and dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in taking of the 26 spoil, it was so much. And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Beracah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of that place was called The 27 valley of Beracah, unto this day. Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD 28 had made them to rejoice over their enemies. And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries 29 and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD. And the fear of God was on all the king- doms of the countries, when they heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel. 30 So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about. 31 And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was 32 Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and turned 33 not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD. Howbeit the high places were not taken away; neither as yet had the people set their hearts unto the God of 34 their fathers. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are writ- ten in the history of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is inserted in the book of the kings of Israel. 35 And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel; 36 the same did very wickedly: and he joined himself with him to make ships to go to 37 Tarshish: and they made the ships in Ezion-geber. Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath destroyed thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.

2. Chron. 17: 1, 2.** Jehoshaphat strengthens the defences of Judah. Son of Asa, fourth king of Judah, Jehoshaphat succeeded to the throne B.C. 914, at thirty-five years of age. His reign lasted twenty-five years, to B.C. 889. Ahab was now king in Israel; Benhadad I. still reigned in Syria; and Elisha abode in Israel. There had been from the division a chronic state of hostility between the kindred king- doms. It was the cities on the frontier of Is- rael that Jehoshaphat first sought to strengthen, as his father had done the cities on the southern border. Walls were built or rebuilt; walled towns were garrisoned, and military outposts and stations established.

3-5. God’s ample return for faithful service. Two points are here referred to concerning Jehoshaphat’s conduct; each one in a double form, positive and comparative. It is said: 1. That he sought not unto Baalim, but sought to the Lord God of his father. Baalim, the plural form, refers to the various names, im- ages or places in which the Tyrian god Baal, already introduced widely into Israel and Judea, was worshipped. In the licentious practices and cruelties of that abominable worship Je- hoshaphat took no part; nor had he faith or respect for any such divinity. Jehovah, the true God, the God of his fathers, was the sole object of his trust, the Divine Being whom he sought to, or worshipped. 2. He walked in Je- hovah’s commandments, and not after the doings of Israel. To the seeking, or the trust and worship, he added the obedient life, here called

“walking in His commandments.” The figure is as expressive as it is familiar. We read of the walk with God or before Him; the walk by faith, the upright and the disorderly walk; everywhere descriptive of the tenor of the life, whether true and godly, or self-seeking, false, and defiant toward God. This good king sought to do as well as to know the will of God. He re-established more thoroughly the law and worship of Jehovah throughout his kingdom. And, it is added, he did not walk “after the doings of Israel.” We remember that Jezebel, Ahab’s impious queen, had just enthroned the Baal worship as the supreme religion of the kingdom of Israel. And it is to this universal acceptance of that gigantic and terrible idolatry by the people of Israel that reference is here made.

The practical suggestions are plain when we read that because Jehoshaphat thus sought to Jehovah and walked in His commandments, the Lord was with him. If we would secure the only desirable favor, that of God, our first and ever foremost personal duty is a trustful seeking of God, as revealed in Christ. The necessary condition and consequence of such seeking of God is the turning away from all other seeking and trust, from any and all other objects of supreme attachment and interest. And second, persistent search to know and unremitting endeavor to do the revealed will of God must accompany, and prove as genuine the trustful seeking of God. This doing of His will also implies the not doing our own will when differing from His. In other words, obedience means and includes all necessary self-denial and sacrifice. How the Lord’s favor was realized and made manifest further appears in the narrative. The kingdom was more firmly established. The whole people gladly added large voluntary gifts to the ordained taxes, for use by the king in adding to the strength and splendor of the kingdom. And, it is added, “he had riches and honor in abundance.” The prosperity and renown of his reign far exceeded that of any rule in either of the divided kingdoms. B.

3. He walked in the first ways of his father.** The purest blood this world has ever known is that of a Christian ancestry. It outranks all other aristocracies. Descent from kings and emperors bears no comparison with it. There is a law of Christian nurture by which, through the grace of God, every Christian family becomes a nursery of the Church of Christ. Such is God’s obvious design. Character is not transferable from father to son, but the elements out of which character grows are so. Religion once rooted in a Christian family should achieve so much conservation of Christian forces. A moral dike is thus built up against the floods of depravity, behind which children may be safe, as Holland is from the inroads of the sea. There is no good reason why our children should not grow up into Christian faith, instead of being wrenched into it by moral convulsions after years of riot in depravity. Phelps.

Ways of Baalim. By “Baalim” seem to be meant different forms of the god Baal, such as Baal-berith, Baal-peor, Baal-zebub, and the like. Jehoshaphat was not seduced into this worship, though in his day it overspread almost the whole kingdom of Israel.

4. The doings of Israel.** By this we are to understand not so much the worship of the calves, which, being antagonistic to Judah, could scarcely possess attractions for a Jewish king, as the special idolatrous doings of the time—the introduction and establishment of the worship of Baal and the groves. B. C.

6-9. The memorable crowning act of Jehoshaphat’s reign.** Instead of a heart lifted up with pride because of prosperity, these proofs of Divine favor wrought in him a grateful lifting of heart in the ways of the Lord. Still more thoroughly he sought to root out the spirit and practice of idolatry from the entire kingdom. But his greatest work, one which gave the highest distinctive character to his reign, is narrated in verses 7-9. It consisted in an organized mission to instruct the entire people in the knowledge of the then written Word of God. The Scriptures of Moses we know were included in “the book of the law of the Lord.” A copy of this law the king entrusted to a commission of five princes, nine Levites, and two priests, whose names are here recorded. This commission he sent throughout all the cities of Judah, with instructions to gather the people together and teach afresh the forgotten Divine precepts. The princes directed the work to which their presence, as the king’s personal representatives, lent dignity and authority. The Levites and priests, as the appointed interpreters, read and expounded the written Word of Jehovah. It was a new and greatly needed measure, the first endeavor of a practical kind to diffuse among the people the knowledge of Jehovah Himself, of His law, and of His previous dealings with His chosen people. And it was the conception and execution of this grand work which eminently distinguished the reign of this good and gentle king. To realize how memorable and crowning an act it was we have but to recall the long, sad history of the whole nation’s declension in the knowledge and service of Jehovah, from the days of Solomon onward. B.

It is, in fact, the first missionary effort on record. For the first time instruction in the ways of God was brought to their homes. As Matthew Henry well writes, “He dealt with them as reasonable creatures, and would not lead them blindfold, no, not into a reformation, but endeavored to have them well taught, knowing that that was the way to have them well cured.” W. Benham.

9. And had the book of the law with them. There is no reasonable doubt that this “book of the law” was the Pentateuch—nearly, if not quite, in the shape in which we now have it. Copies of the whole law were, no doubt, scarce; and therefore Jehoshaphat’s commission took care to carry a copy with them. B. C.

10. The remarkable result of the king’s fidelity to Jehovah and wide dissemination of His Word. It is not said that the people of Judah were prospered, but that the neighboring hostile countries were so impressed by the prevalent spirit of God’s now obedient people that a fear of Him came upon those heathen nations. So Judah had peace without and tranquillity within. More than this, on the one side the Philistines, and the Arabians on the other, voluntarily brought presents of silver and of flocks to the king of Judah. A great prosperity came to king and people. The business of the cities was vastly augmented, and large treasures were accumulated. And this was the reward of even imperfect obedience and of partial knowledge and regard of the Word of Jehovah! How clear and striking the lessons to us of the latest days! God’s Word, now full and complete, may be in every hand. In every hand it should be placed. It may be apprehended by every mind and received by every heart. The heart knowledge of and obedience to its truths brings inward peace and outward prosperity to the individual soul, and to the nation. Are not these thoughts worthy of profound consideration and self-application? B.

12-19. Throughout the whole country he built “cities of store,” or magazines of arms and provisions. In Jerusalem he collected a large military force, under five chief captains, Adnah, Jehohanah, Amasiah the son of Zichri, Eliada, and Jehozabad, who were placed at the head of five distinct corps d’armée. Over the garrisons in the other towns he placed his own sons as commandants, or else princes chosen out of the host, supplying them in abundance with silver and gold (21:3). G. R.

Chap. 18. In common with the Book of Kings, the account is given of the union of Jehoram, the son and successor of Jehoshaphat, with Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel; and also of the joint warfare of Ahab and Jehoshaphat with Benhadad of Syria, with the fatal issue of the conflict in the death of Ahab. (See Section 15.) B.

Chap. 19. This chapter is entirely additional to Kings, and of great interest. It deals with three matters only, the rebuke addressed to Jehoshaphat by the prophet Jehu (verses 1-3), the personal efforts of Jehoshaphat to effect a religious reformation (verse 4), and his reform of the judicial system (verses 5-11).

1. Jehoshaphat returned to his house in peace. With the battle of Ramoth-Gilead, and the death of Ahab, the war came to an end. The combined attack of the two kings having failed, their troops had been withdrawn, and the enterprise in which they had joined relinquished. The Syrians, satisfied with their victory, did not press on the retreating foe, or carry the war into their enemies’ country. B. C.

1-3. The reproof of Jehoshaphat by the prophet Jehu. The best lives recorded in the Scripture history are marred by infirmity and sin. At some time and in some of its forms, self-seeking gets the mastery, and works its evil and wretchedness. So it was with this good king. For his fidelity God gave him many years of great prosperity—as He ever gives to the truly faithful, and continues so long as they abide true and unselfish. But his “abundant riches and honor,” helped by his strong natural sympathy for a great national league, if not an ultimate reunion of the two kingdoms, led him into an alliance with Ahab of Israel. After six years of conflict he confirms a treaty of peace by the marriage of his youthful son Jehoram with the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. The point of Jehoshaphat’s offence was not any direct self-seeking, but it was a wrong aim in leaguing with Ahab, God’s open enemy; an aim pursued, therefore, in disregard of God’s will. He would rearrange matters between the two kingdoms, without making the God of both a party to the new arrangement; without even consulting him. Practically, in making so intimate an affiliation with Ahab and Jezebel, he went over from the Lord’s side to the ranks of the Lord’s most eminent enemies. And he did this not only in the ill-starred marriage of his son, but also in joining forces with Ahab against the invading king of Syria. Nay, further than this, when the warning of God was sent to him by Micaiah upon the battle-field, Jehoshaphat disregarded it, and went into the battle at Ahab’s side. After the defeat and death of Ahab, he returned with a disarrayed army to Jerusalem. At the gate of the city the king and army were met by another prophet of Jehovah, Jehu, the son of Hanani.

“Wrath is upon thee from the Lord!” Jehu openly announced. “Shouldest thou love them that hate the Lord, and help the ungodly?” Exactly this the king had done; in allying his household with that of Jezebel, and in joining his army with that of Ahab. Upon the ordinary principles governing national alliances there would be no ground of objection to this whole procedure of Jehoshaphat. Mere human politicians would count it wise. “It were far better,” they would say, “that these adjoining kingdoms of the same people should be at peace and in alliance; and that both should unite their strength against their most formidable common enemy.” But then God was a known and active party in all these issues. Ahab was His open and pronounced enemy; Jehoshaphat His avowed subject. Nothing but failure, loss and misery could result to any, whether foes or friends, whom God did not aid and favor. And He could not—Jehoshaphat well knew—succeed those who avowedly hated and defied Him, as Ahab and Jezebel had always done. Upon this knowledge, the good king was rightly adjudged and condemned for his alliance with and help of Ahab. The sentence of wrath seems to have been executed, as so many Divine chastisements are visited, not upon the king himself and his people, but in the way of natural result, upon his son and his people. It came in the evil and suffering consequent upon the idolatry and crime introduced into Judah through the marriage with the wicked Athaliah, daughter of the viler Jezebel.

Here are practical suggestions, wide-reaching and momentous. They cover the whole vital matter of human alliances—personal, family and national. Whatever nice questions, of application to details, may remain unsolved, the essential principle is simple and clear. It is that we are not to accept as heart friends, life guides or family counsellors avowed enemies of God, positive disbelievers in the truths of His Word, even those who lack positively just, pure principles, or who have not measurably proved such principles by a settled practice.

But with the very words of reproof the great mercifulness of God appears. For with rebuke he joins commendation for the good things Jehoshaphat had done. It is one of the multiplied proofs that lie upon the Scripture pages, of God’s full, glad recognition of everything He can find to approve. How unlike mere human parents and friends is He in this; that He upbraideth not. Reproof, rebuke, He utters; and where wickedness is aggravated by intelligent, defiant impiety, He uses the severest denunciation. But no approach or casting back of acknowledged sin comes from Him. Rather does He rejoice in the feeblest purpose and smallest fragments of good, and own them with glad approval. And this is the cheering truth which the story further suggests. You may read it in the comforting, golden promise of 1 John 1:9. B.

2. It is wonderful at how many points the biographies of the Old Testament touch modern life. Jehoshaphat was a representative man—representative of a large class of good men in every age, who for selfish ends choose their friends from among the irreligious and the worldly. The friendship of wicked men is one of the most dangerous social temptations to which Christians are subjected. A Christian who subjects his Christian faith to worldly policy in the choice of his associates in life strikes right athwart the whole range of scriptural command and admonition and expostulation and example. No Christian can safely do that. Further, Christian alliances with the wicked do not command the respect of the very men for whose favor they are formed. Men of the world are very keen in their judgments of Christian character. They know what is consistent Christian living when they see it, as well as we do. Indeed, their theoretic ideal of a Christian life is commonly more exalted than that of men who are struggling to realize it. No other class of men are so prompt to tell us what they would do if they believed as we do as those who believe nothing. An upright and downright Christian they always revere. In heart they make obeisance to him as to no other type of man. Do you not know a godless man who professes to have lost all faith in religion, but who makes exception of some one humble Christian woman—his mother perhaps, or sister, or wife? “If ever human being gets to heaven, she will,” is his testimony. That one life keeps open to his faith the celestial gates. . . . Of this trial of Christian principle, it should be further said that the Christian religion requires no narrow or ascetic seclusion from the world. The thing which Christian principle forbids is the seeking of worldly friendships and alliances for selfish ends, and to the peril of religious usefulness and religious character. Phelps.

As to the sin itself with which Jehoshaphat is charged, and the probable reasons or motives of its commission, we must seek an explanation of his conduct rather in mistaken views of policy than in any considerable indifference to the honor of God, or any leaning to the defections of apostasy and idolatry. In his anxiety to pacify, to conciliate, and to reclaim he was tempted to go a little too far—even to the sacrificing of his own high integrity, and the apparent countenancing of Israel’s corruptions. Here lay the error of this good prince; and here it was that he suffered the subtlety of worldly wisdom and the spurious kindness of worldly liberality to interfere with the simplicity of an upright and honorable faith in God, and a godly love toward men. To desire the restoration of his brethren of Israel to the privileges of the covenant which they had renounced was natural, just and right, in one who himself valued these privileges so highly. But with this view, and under this pretence, to make friendly advances toward them, and show a disposition to unite with them, in their present state of apostasy and idolatry—this was imprudence—this was sin. Candlish.

4. Jehoshaphat went out again through the people and brought them back. While continuing to maintain, both with Ahaziah and with his successor Jehoram, the closest and most friendly relations, Jehoshaphat was careful to show that he had no sympathy with idolatry, and was determined to keep his people, so far as he possibly could, free from it. He therefore now personally set about a second reformation. Passing through the whole land, from the extreme south to the extreme north—from Beer-sheba to the cities in Mount Ephraim which Abijah had taken from Jeroboam (chap. 13:19)—he once more put down by the strong arm of authority all idolatrous worship, and brought his people back to Jehovah, the God of their fathers. G. R.

5-7. Appointment of judges throughout the land, and charge respecting their duties. God’s reproof wrought a salutary effect upon the “heart prepared to seek” Him. Through the land among all the people the king went again on a Christ-like mission: to “bring them back unto the Lord God of their fathers.” The great object of all these kingly missions in Judah was the extirpation of idolatry. Now, through the recent alliance with idolatrous Israel, the evil had been disseminated with fresh power and impetus. That the king himself had received no taint is manifest, before by the prophet’s commendation, and now by his own earnest, self-denying work of visitation. Not only the interests of religion, but those of righteous government were cared for in this self-imposed beneficent mission. Of two classes of tribunals then instituted, these verses refer to that which was the inferior, more numerous and widespread. In all the larger towns he appointed new judges, with new methods and powers of administering justice. The reason for this reform we can only conjecture—that it was necessitated by the existing corruption which had grown out of so long unresisted idolatry.

The charge to the appointed judges is a sublime one. It has special application to all who make, expound and administer, and execute human laws—i.e., to all officials connected with human government. Yet its grand counsels, with the reasons upon which they are based, apply to every responsible human actor in every sphere of accountable human action. “Take heed what you do, for you act not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you to direct and aid you in your acting! Wherefore, knowing this, take heed to do whatever you do in the trustful, prayerful fear of the Lord. Act justly, with truth and righteousness; as God Himself acts, without iniquity in your hearts, without respect of persons, without perversion of the right in return for bribe of any sort. All human conduct, however it affects our fellow-man, has supreme respect to the known will of God. All truth and honesty, all just and kind dealing toward man, have their vital spring in the heart’s homage and obedience to God. And all injustice and deceit, all unkindness and wrong toward men, have their secret source in the heart’s disobedience and rejection of God. Simply recognizing this cardinal fact of human action, in the sore remembrance of his blood-guiltiness toward Uriah, David said, Against thee, thee only, have I sinned. And it is this double foundation truth that Christ asserts in the judgment allegory by the words, Ye did it, and Ye did it not—unto Me!

8,9. Establishment of a supreme court of appeal in Jerusalem, and charge to its chosen judges. Beside the inferior courts in the several cities, Jehoshaphat created a supreme tribunal with original and appellate jurisdiction, and located it in the capital. As its judges he chose the best and wisest of the priests and Levites, and of the heads of the families of Judah. This tribunal had two divisions: one presided over (verse 11) by Amariah, the chief priest; the other by Zebadiah, the ruler of the king’s house. The former adjudicated upon “all matters of the Lord;” all questions pertaining to the ceremonial and ritual law prescribed by Jehovah. The latter finally determined all civil and criminal cases arising under the laws of the land. Over the doings of the supreme judicatory the king himself could exercise general oversight and control. His charge to its members was simpler and more comprehensive than that to the inferior judges in the cities; but its substance was the same. What they did he enjoined them to do faithfully, in the fear of the Lord, and with a perfect, or undivided, heart. Thus this good and wise king completed a great and needed reformation in Judah. He re-established a pure worship. He instituted a system of religious education among the people, causing them to be instructed in the knowledge of the written Scriptures. And he established these tribunals for a wise and faithful administration of justice throughout the land. B.

Chap. 29. The narrative contained in this chapter, as far as verse 30, is entirely additional to Kings. The remainder, except verse 37, runs parallel with 1 K. 22: 41-49. B. C.

1-13. As we have already learned, this good and wise king had taught his people the written Word of Jehovah. He had restored a true and pure temple worship in Jerusalem. And he had established tribunals for the efficient administration of law and justice. Years of quiet and prosperity followed these wise, right measures. Then trouble arose from a new quarter. The Ammonites and Moabites, descendants of the two sons of Lot, who occupied the region eastward of the Dead Sea, and the Edomites, descendants of Esau, inhabiting the mountains extending southward to the Red Sea, combined in undertaking the subjugation of Judah, and a permanent possession of the territory. Hence the immense multitude, and the untold amount of spoil afterward gathered; for not only all the armed men, but the mass of the entire people of those three nations seem to have migrated in this hostile movement. The great combined host had passed round the southern limit of the Dead Sea, and half way up its western border, and was encamped at Engedi, only thirty miles from Jerusalem, when the intelligence of the invasion first reached the king and people. Speedily, at the king’s summons, came the people together at the capital. With the fighting men were their wives and children, for the summons was to the taking part in a religious service rather than in a combat. In this Jehoshaphat exhibited his faith at the very outset. To the house of God he leads the alarmed people; to the temple where he had long before restored the highest condition of worship. There, in the great emergency, he shows how fully he understood and how deeply he sympathized with the spirit of that prayer of dedication which God had pledged Himself to answer. Himself following Solomon’s example and leading the people in prayer, he makes bold and fervent appeal to Jehovah. His chief plea and reliance is upon His covenant-relation and special covenant promises to His people. But he also pleads the gross, because causeless, wrong of the invaders: for Israel had not trespassed upon their territory when entering into Canaan. Then with the declaration of utter inability to cope with the vast advancing multitude, the royal suppliant completes his prayer with sublime words of trust: Our eyes are upon Thee!

And THEN, while all Judah stood before the Lord, while these trustful words still lingered upon the king’s lips, came

14-17. God’s answering message by Jehaziel, a prophet-psalmist. From the midst of the gathered congregation, a voice instantly responded with the words: Thus saith the Lord unto you! The message included, first, needed assurance of safety for their encouragement; and next direction for their conduct. Ye have trusted in God; He will deliver you. Go down on the morrow against them, but not to fight. Set yourselves in array, but stand still to behold the Lord’s deliverance. And the inspired speaker indicated the very place where, on the next day, their enemies were smitten of God. It was at a point only twelve miles from Jerusalem, at the head of the long winding ascent from Engedi, where the ravine issued into the tableland wilderness of Judah. B.

15. The battle is God’s.** The history of the Church is full of instances of this law of Divine procedure. An old saying of the German Reformers was this: “One with God on his side is a majority.” Every cause which God originates starts with only Gideon’s three hundred. From this law of God’s working it is clear that in spiritual affairs the balance of power does not depend on numbers. Votes have very little to do with it. It depends on spiritual forces. It depends on insight into the spiritual wants of the world, on consecration to God’s service, on the power of prayer, on spiritual discovery of the side on which God is, and specially on intensity of Christian character. . . . Minorities of honest and earnest men, devoted to a great cause, should never be opposed heedlessly. Let us be on the lookout for such men. Let us greet them with a “God-speed” when they make their Divine credentials clear. . . . Within the Church of Christ itself is to be found a minority of believers whom God regards with peculiar complacency. As a spiritual power, they are the vanguard of the Church. They are the spiritual aristocracy of Christ’s kingdom. Phelps.

17. Stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord. The prophet used words almost identical with those which Moses had addressed to the Israelites on the shores of the Red Sea immediately before the destruction of Pharaoh’s hosts (Ex. 14 : 13), thus indicating that the deliverance would, now as then, be wholly from God. B. C.

18,19. How God’s response was received by king and people. It was with humble worship and with grateful praise. Jehoshaphat and all Judah reverently prostrated themselves before the Lord; while the Levite choirs, bands from the special families of the Kohathites and Korhites stood and chanted in their wonted loudly jubilant strains the high praises of the Lord God of Israel. This spontaneous unanimity, at once manifesting itself in worship and song, indicated the people’s faith in the Divine assurance granted them. Some of the very words of the message they had read or heard out of the reopened, restudied book of the law and the providence of Jehovah toward Israel. The battle is not yours, but God’s. Stand ye, and see the salvation of the Lord with you! And their faith was helped by the facts of the history, when these words had been made real and living. But even then they needed the reinforcement of their king’s yet mightier and more absolute faith. Hence followed on the next day.

20. The grandly simple, purely evangelical exhortation of Jehoshaphat. It occurred early on the next morning, as the armed hosts of Judah and Jerusalem passed through the great gate of the capital. In the gateway stood the true-hearted monarch, and, as band after band went by, he repeated the double charge: Believe in the Lord your God! Believe His prophets! So, he assured them, shall ye be established and prosper. No scene in Judah’s history is at once so picturesque, sublime and instructive as this crowned preacher standing in the archway of the lofty gate, and earnestly reiterating this simple Gospel command, “Only believe.” Long years of wise, good rule and of varied experience gave increased force to his urgency with these men of Judah. They had known and trusted him; therefore they would be the more willing to trust the God he trusted—the God who had prospered him and the people of Judah. We need not pause to suggest the application of this comprehensive call to faith. We may refer to the power for good which is accumulated by a long living Christian experience; and to the effect of such exerted power in imparting or re-enforcing the spiritual strength, courage, or comfort of feeble or discouraged souls.

21. The appointment of singers to express the people’s trust in praise. No preparation for fighting was to be made, though the armed men went in battle array. It was for them an utterly passive conflict, an inward fight of faith; for they never saw a living enemy of all the host that had come so nigh them. But still they made preparation for the expected victory and triumph. And the preparation was exactly suited to the call and promise of God. It was a preparation for praise—for the utterance in songful worship of the people’s assured trust in God; and of their grateful acknowledgment beforehand of His promised delivering mercy. Apparelled in white linen robes, the symbols of holy beauty, bands of singers went before the army, as a vanguard of surest protection. And as they went all the way from the city to “the watch-tower in the wilderness,” they ceased not their song of gratitude and trust: PRAISE JEHOVAH; for His mercy endureth forever!

22-30. The result that accompanied their trustful, praising refrain. Let the record be noted: when they BEGAN to sing and to praise, the Lord’s work in their deliverance began. And as they continued, for those long miles and hours of steady march, to sing and praise, Jehovah’s hand stayed not in His destruction of their enemies and His, till “they were smitten.” And when the still praising vanguard reached the place of carnage, “behold the multitude were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.” Among the three nations, composing the vast horde of invaders, God had stirred up dissension. This led to jealousies and animosities, which soon broke out into deadly strife with each other; prolonged until multitudes were slain, and the remnant had fled panic-stricken to their native hills. Immense spoil and treasure covered the wide camping ground, requiring three days’ work to gather and prepare for removal. So the same God, who in the New Testament characterizes Himself as rich in mercy, greatly enriched the king and people who had only asked for deliverance. And such exceeding abundance above all we ask or think is His royal wont to all that thoroughly trust and utterly repose upon His promised mercy.

The history (verses 26-28) tells of their thankful recognition of both the signal deliverance and the large bounty. On the fourth day, before their homeward journey, they assembled themselves for special praise upon the field where the dead and the spoil had lain. And their service of blessing and thanksgiving thenceforward gave the name of Berachiah (or blessing) to the immediate region or valley. “Then returned every man, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront, to Jerusalem with joy.” With harp and song “they came unto the house of the Lord.” And to the record of their solemn yet joyful gratitude and praise, added to that of their previous prayerful trust, appropriately follows the statement: “So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet; for his God had given him rest. The Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.”

The story impressively discloses the relations of faith and praise, and strongly emphasizes the high place and importance of a thankful, praising spirit among the essentials of Christian experience and living. As faith must show itself by its fruits—of obedience to direction and expectation of blessing—so faith and love and gratitude, if they exist, must manifest themselves by their natural fruit of thanksgiving and praise. So was it here. The faith of king and people implicitly obeyed the Divine direction, and anticipated the fulfilment of the Divine promise. The assured expectation of blessing wrought love and gratitude, which found their expression in song and praise. So was it in all the Old Testament worship. Always prominent as an essential element, praise expressed the adoring, grateful feeling of true worshippers. The Psalms, scattered through the history and gathered in the Psalter, were but the utterance of a natural demand for such voiced expression of gratitude and adoration. And the habitual, fervent use of these inspired lyrics has maintained and intensified the feeling in all generations since. Richly, too, does the New Testament respond to this spirit of adoring praise and practice of thankful song, which so characterizes the Old economy. Throughout, by example and by precept with promise, it fervently commends thankfulness in song and the spirit of thankful praise in the heart. When they had sung an hymn, Christ went forth to His garden-agony. And we recall the midnight psalms, in the Philippian prison, of the Lord’s suffering witnesses. The Epistles abound in exhortations and thanksgiving. Study attentively Paul’s inspired and inspiring counsels on this point (Eph. 5:19, 20; Col. 2:7; 3:15-17; Phil. 4:6, 7; 1 Thess. 5:18); and trace out in your Concordance the words “thankful,” “thanksgiving,” and their equivalents, if you would realize the vital need of more praise, more felt and expressed thankfulness, in your heart and in all Christian hearts. No defect in our practical Christianity to-day is more strange and signal, more hindering and hurtful, more deadening to faith, more paralyzing to loving obedience and effort, more enfeebling to prayer and to Christian living, than the lack of this praising spirit in the heart, and the withholding of its voiced or silent expression to God. As the emphatic teaching of this lesson, then, be it noted: That the thankful, praising spirit is at once the highest proof and effect of a living trust, and its most efficient helper. B.

Never was army so unaccountably destroyed as that of the enemy; not by dint of sword, or strength of arm, but the Lord set ambushments against them, that they fell upon their own friends as if they had been enemies, and every one helped to destroy another, so that none escaped. This God did when His people began to sing and to praise (verse 22), for He delights to furnish those with matter for praise that have hearts for it. Never was spoil so cheerfully divided, for Jehoshaphat’s army had nothing to do beside; the rest was done for them. When they came to the view of this vast army, instead of finding living men to fight with, they found them all dead men. Jehoshaphat and his people prayed to be delivered from being spoiled by the enemy; and God not only did that, but enriched them with the spoil of the enemy. Never was victory celebrated with more solemn and enlarged thanksgivings. They kept a day of praise in the camp before they drew their forces out of the field. They assembled in a valley, where they blessed God with so much zeal and fervency that that day’s work gave a name to the place, the valley of Berachah—i.e., of blessing (verse 26). Then they came in solemn procession, Jehoshaphat at the head, to Jerusalem, that the country, as they passed along, might join in their praises, and that they might give thanks for the mercy there where they had by prayer obtained it, in the house of the Lord (verses 27, 28). H.

The passage 2 Chron. 20:35-37 is manifestly out of its chronological order here. This event occurred within one, or at most two, years after

Ahab’s death (Ahaziah, his successor, having reigned less than two years); consequently about the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat—eight years before his death. Hence the words “after this” cannot mean, after the great victory recorded in this chapter. With this passage compare 1 K. 22: 48, 49. Ezion-geber being a port on the Elanitic branch of the Red Sea, these ships were for the Indian, not the Mediterranean trade, and were therefore called “ships of Tarshish” only in the sense of being ships of the largest size—“East Indiamen.” Or possibly some place in those waters bore this name “Tarshish.” The Lord wisely baffled this commercial enterprise; for it was not well for Jehoshaphat to be in intimate relations to this godless Ahaziah. H. C.

Jehoshaphat was a good king—one of the best of the Jewish sovereigns. He was, too, a prosperous and successful monarch. His country flourished under his sway. He sought to do his subjects good, and he did them good. God blessed and honored him in his ways. He died in peace and in favor with God. But he leaned to his own understanding in a matter of great moment. He put policy for principle, conciliation for frank dissent, worldly advantage for manly firmness, and sowed the seeds of evil, that lived and thrived and bore fruit centuries after his decease. R. Hallam.

There can be no doubt that Judea was extremely prosperous under Jehoshaphat’s rule. He was certainly the ablest and most energetic king that had reigned over Judah since the time of Solomon. While it cannot be denied that the one fatal mistake which he made in joining affinity with Ahab had, in course of time, the most terribly disastrous consequences, leading as it did to the desecration of the Temple, the complete apostasy of the State during the space of six years, and the almost entire destruction of the seed of David, yet the immediate results were, in a worldly point of view, advantageous, and a most flourishing condition of affairs seems to have been temporarily established. Commerce revived; Jehoshaphat’s relations with the Edomites enabled him to resume possession of the port of Ezion-geber upon the shores of the Red Sea; and, although on one occasion the fleet which he had prepared to sail to Ophir for gold was destroyed by a storm almost before it was well out of harbor (2 K. 22: 48), yet there is reason to believe that the trade was, at any rate to some extent, restored, and that in Jehoshaphat’s reign Jewish fleets were once more seen upon the Red Sea and in the Indian Ocean, pursuing the peaceful occupations of traffic and commerce. Jehoshaphat built commercial cities as well as fortresses, and everywhere promoted a vigorous commercial policy. The riches which flowed in upon him (2 Chron. 17: 5; 18: 1) were the natural result of this course of action, though no doubt his resources received large accessions from various other quarters (ibid., 17: 5, 11; 20: 25).

Jehoshaphat died at the age of sixty, leaving behind him seven sons of full age, the eldest of whom, Jehoram, he had designated as his successor (2 Chron. 21: 2, 3). G. R.

1. K. 22:** 51 AHAZIAH the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherein he made Israel to sin. And he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the LORD, the God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.

2. K. 1:** 1, 2 And Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. And Ahaziah fell down through the lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this sickness. But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed. And the messengers returned unto him, and he said unto them, Why is it that ye are returned? And they said unto him, There came up a man to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Is it because there is no God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of

Baal-zebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed whither 7 thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And he said unto them, What manner of man was he 8 which came up to meet you, and told you these words? And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the 9 Tishbite. Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of the hill. And he spake unto him, O man of God, 10 the king hath said, Come down. And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And 11 there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. And again he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O 12 man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly. And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy 13 fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. And again he sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in 14 thy sight. Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and consumed the two former cap- 15 tains of fifty with their fifties: but now let my life be precious in thy sight. And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he 16 arose, and went down with him unto the king. And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron, is it be- cause there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down 17 from the bed whither thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram began to reign in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son. 18 Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

THE history of Ahaziah’s reign begins in 1 K. 22:51, and is carried on, without any real break or pause in the sense, to 2 K. 1:18. How the two books came to be divided at this point is quite inexplicable. The division is most un- happy. Not only does it, without apparent reason, draw a strong line of demarkation in the middle of a reign, but it separates what it was evidently the intention of the writer most closely to connect—viz., the sins of the mon- arch and their punishment. Ahaziah began his reign by openly showing himself a devotee of Baal—by “walking in the way of his father and in the way of his mother,” the wicked Jeze- bel: therefore calamity immediately smote him—first Moab rebelled, threw off the Israel- ite yoke, and re-established its independence; and then, within a short space, Ahaziah him- self met with an accident which produced a dan- gerous illness. The writer relates barely the former fact, quit enlarges on the latter, which gave occasion for one of the most remarkable of the miracles of Elijah. P. C.

Ahaziah, the eldest son, and of like spirit, succeeded Ahab. During the second year of his reign he accidentally fell from a window. Severe sickness ensued, which led him to send messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub if he would recover. God directed Elijah to intercept the messengers, and to send them back with His reproof and warning to Ahaziah. In defiance of this Divine message Ahaziah sends three successive companies (of fifty each) forci- bly to arrest Elijah. To the sharp summons of the two captains of the first and second compa- nies, by a Divine impulse and direction, Elijah called down fire from heaven, which destroyed them all. God did this to teach king and people that He was to be reverenced in the per- son of His prophet, and to show that He would protect the faithful and destroy the disobedient. The third captain, heeding the terrible lesson, did reverence to Elijah as God’s prophet, and was spared by God upon his own entreaty for mercy. Then Elijah, as bidden by the Lord, went obediently and boldly as aforetime into the presence of the king and Jezebel, and re- peated the exact words of the previous message. And no hand did this impious son and mother raise against him, notwithstanding the executed doom upon their two arresting bands, and his bold utterance of God’s warning message. “So Ahaziah died, according to the word of the Lord.” This was Elijah’s last recorded public act. B.

Nothing is related concerning him but what is unfortunate. He renewed the close alliance with Judah, which had been made by his father

(1 K. 22 : 44 ; 1 Chron. 20 : 36), uniting with Jehoshaphat in the maritime enterprise on which he was bent, and engaging in the construction of the joint fleet which was intended to make voyages to Ophir for gold. The ships were constructed in the port of Ezion-geber on the Red Sea at the head of the Gulf of Akabah, and were manned (apparently) by Jewish sailors only. A disaster followed. Scarcely had the fleet set sail when it was driven back to port by a violent tempest, which greatly damaged most of the vessels. Ahaziah ascribed the calamity to the unskilfulness of the Jewish mariners, and proposed that in any future voyage the ships should be manned by mixed crews from the two nations (2 K. 22 : 49) ; but Jehoshaphat was too proud to accept such a proposal, and a coolness must have followed in the relations between the allies, though there seems to have been no actual rupture. With the Moabites on the southeastern frontier of Israel the case was different. There Ahab’s death produced an immediate rupture of peaceful relations (2 K. 1 : 1 ; 3 : 5) ; and a war followed (whereof we have the Moabite account on the “Stone of Mesha”) which seems to have consisted of little more than a series of Israelite reverses. Mesha recovered in succession Medeba, Baal-meon, Kirjathaim, Ataroth, Nebo and Jahaz, which had all been occupied by the Israelites. In Nebo alone he slew no fewer than seven thousand men. The entire country was recovered, and a number of ruined cities rebuilt and strongly fortified with walls, and towers, and gates, and moats. The entire tribute which Moab had previously paid (2 K. 3 : 4) was lost, and a powerful kingdom was set up on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, which threatened both Israel and Judah. A single year sufficed for the capture or massacre of all the Israelite garrisons, and for the complete establishment of the Moabites as an independent nation in the country which they claimed as their own. G. R.

1. Then Moab rebelled.** The Moabites, who had once lorded it over Israel (Jud. 3 : 12-14), were reduced to subjection by David, and treated with extreme severity (2 S. 8 : 2). Nothing is related of them in Scripture from the date of this subjection to the time of Ahab, when they are found to be dependent on the kingdom of Israel, to which it has therefore been generally supposed that they fell at the separation of Israel from Judah. The Moabite monument, discovered in 1869, has now given reason to believe that, at the separation of the kingdoms, they recovered their independence, but were again reduced by Omri, who, with his son Ahab, is said (in round numbers) to have “oppressed” them for “forty years.” The enormous tribute exacted by Ahab implies a grievous oppression. Moab rebelled as soon as Ahab was dead, and easily regained her independence. It is this war of liberation which is the principal subject of the Moabite monument above mentioned, a monument which was set up by Mesha (chap. 3 : 4) to commemorate his successes. B. C.

2. Ahaziah had been walking on the roof of his palace in Samaria, and had leaned against what seems to have been a latticed fence running round the roof. The fence gave way. The king fell either into the street or into the inner court of the palace, and was so severely injured that he became alarmed for his life. After the example of his father and mother he had been a worshipper of Baal. In particular, Ahaziah had honored him as Baal-zebub, the god of flies. This deity would appear to have been held in peculiar reverence at Ekron, the most northerly of the five great cities of the Philistines, and, therefore, nearest to Samaria. Thither, accordingly, Ahaziah sent his messengers, immediately after his fall, with the inquiry whether or not he should recover from its effects. It was a daring violation of the law of God (Lev. 20 : 6). It was a countenancing of idolatry in the worst form in which it had been supported by Ahab and Jezebel. And the offence was rendered still more heinous by the recent character of that work of reformation which had been effected by Elijah. W. M.

The same hand that guided Ahab’s shaft cracks Ahaziah’s lattice. How infinite variety of plagues hath the just God for obstinate sinners ! Whether in the field or in the chamber, He knows to find them out. No place is safe for the man that is at variance with God. The body of Ahaziah was not more sick than his soul was graceless. Bp. H.

3. Of the whole period of ten years between the calling of Elisha and the summons to meet the messengers of Ahaziah, we known, so far as concerns Elijah, absolutely nothing.

3,4. The message at once shows the light in which the conduct of Ahaziah is to be regarded. It was a denial of the God of Israel. It was the worship of one who was no God ; and the soul that so sinned was to die. Elijah instantly obeyed “the word of the Lord,” met the messengers of Ahaziah with the same startling suddenness as that with which he had before met Ahab, delivered his message, and with equal suddenness “departed.” At no time was it his part to argue. He was “a voice of one crying in the wilderness.” The voice was to cry at the appointed moment; and when its cry was uttered to be silent. Let men hear or let them forbear: the work of the voice was done. The messengers instantly returned. W. M.

8. It is Elijah the Tishbite.** No doubt he suspected it before. The boldness, the daring, the sudden appearance, and equally sudden disappearance of the man who could send him such a message, were traits that could hardly belong to any but to one whom he and his father’s house had so much occasion to remember. The message itself too touched his conscience; and although not the prophet himself, but his image, called up by his imagination, stood before him, he could only repeat, as it were, the exclamation of Ahab in the vineyard of Naboth, “Thou hast found me, O mine enemy.” W. M.

9. Behold the true son of Jezebel: the anguish of his disease, the expectation of death, cannot take off the edge of his persecution of Elijah. It is against his will that his death-bed is not bloody. Had Ahaziah meant any other than a cruel violence to Elijah he had sent a peaceable messenger to call him to the court; he had not sent a captain with a band of soldiers to fetch him. The instruments which he used carry revenge in their face. If he had not thought Elijah more than a man, what needed a band of fifty to apprehend one? and if he did think him such, why would he send to apprehend him by fifty? Surely Ahaziah knew of old how miraculous a prophet Elijah was; what power that man had over all their base deities; what command of the elements, of the heavens; and yet he sends to attach him. It is a strange thing to see how wilfully godless men strive against the stream of their own hearts; hating that which they know good; fighting against that which they know divine. What a gross disagreement is in the message of this Israelitish captain: “Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down!” If he were a man of God, how hath he offended? And if he have justly offended the anointed of God, how is he a man of God? And if he be a man of God and have not offended, why should he come down to punishment? Here is a kind confession with a false heart, with bloody hands. The world is full of those windy courtesies, real cruelties. Bp. H.

10. Elijah took the scorner at his word. “If I be a man of God,” he said, “let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty.” The prophet had dealt with fire from heaven before. It may be that near that very spot he had seen the heavens open at his prayer and the fire came down that “consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.” Thus no doubt he prayed again, and there rushed forth fire from heaven, and consumed the captain and his fifty. W. M.

Ahaziah, the son of the wicked Jezebel, had challenged Jehovah to a trial of strength by first ignoring him, and then sending a troop of soldiers to arrest his prophet. Was Elijah to succumb without an effort, or was he to vindicate the majesty and honor of Jehovah? He had no power of himself to do either good or harm. He could but pray to Jehovah, and Jehovah, in His wisdom and perfect goodness, would either grant or refuse his prayer. If He granted it, the punishment inflicted would not be Elijah’s work, but His. God regarded it as a fitting time for making a signal example, and, so regarding it, He inspired a spirit of indignation in the breast of His prophet, who thereupon made the prayer which He saw fit to answer. The judgment was in accordance with the general tone and tenor of the law, which assigns “tribulation and anguish to every soul of man that doeth evil,” and visits with death every act of rebellion against God. P. C.

It was not long since Elijah had fetched fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice (1 K. 18: 38), in token of God’s acceptance of that sacrifice as an atonement for the sins of the people; but they having slighted that, now the fire falls, not on the sacrifice, but on the sinners themselves (verse 10). What an interest the prophets had in heaven; what the Spirit of God in them demanded, the power of God effected; Elijah did but speak and it was done; he that formerly had fetched water from heaven now fetches fire. Oh, the power of prayer! Concerning the work of My hands, command ye Me (Isa. 45: 11). What an interest Heaven had in the prophets! God was always ready to plead their cause, and avenge the injuries done to them. Kings shall still be rebuked for their sakes and charged to do His prophets no harm. One Elijah is more to God than ten thousand captains and their fifties. Doubtless Elijah did this by a Divine impulse, and yet our Saviour would not allow the disciples to draw it into a precedent (Luke 9: 54). H.

In his rebuke of James and John no word is spoken by our Lord in regard to the conduct of Elijah. What he finds fault with is simply the spirit of His own disciples, and the whole tone of the narrative implies that all that He would say was this, “Ye do not understand the nature of the Dispensation which I am introducing, and ye err in thinking that my mission is to be marked by the same judgments called down directly upon sinners as those which were exhibited in the Dispensation that is passing away.” For anything contained in the passage, therefore, our Lord accepted the conduct of Elijah as that of a righteous servant of His Father in Heaven, and declared only that He Himself had come to fulfil all righteousness in a different way. Not, in other words, in any change in the character of God, and certainly not in the conduct of the captains and their companies, but in the outward circumstances of men, in the nature of the Old and New Testament Dispensations, as adapted to their different stages in the history of the world, is the explanation to be found. Neither in the destruction brought through Elijah upon the companies of Ahaziah, nor in that upon the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal at an earlier period, is there the least appearance of merely human passion, or of a spirit of revenge that knew not where to pause. In both the prophet acts as one who feels that he is the messenger of God, clothed with His commission, under an obligation to execute His will—and that will was regulated by thought of the condition of those who were then training for better things. W. M.

Elijah’s actions are more for wonder than for precedent. Not in his own defence would the prophet have been the death of so many, if God had not by a peculiar instinct made him an instrument of this just vengeance. The Divine justice finds it meet to do this for the terror of Israel; that He might teach them what it was to contemn, to persecute a prophet; that they might learn to fear Him whom they had forsaken, and confess that Heaven was sensible of their insolencies and impieties. If not as visibly yet as certainly doth God punish the violations of His ordinances, the affronts offered to His messengers, still and ever. Not ever with the same speed; sometimes the punishment overtakes the act; sometimes dogs it afar off, and seizeth upon the offender when his crime is forgotten; here, no sooner is the word out of Elijah’s mouth than the fire is out of heaven.

Oh, the wonderful power of a prophet! There sits Elijah in his coarse mantle on the top of the hill, and commands the heavens, and they obey him: “Let fire fall down from heaven.” He needs no more but say what he would have done: the fire falls down, as before upon the sacrifice in Carmel, so now upon the soldiers of Ahaziah. What is man in the hands of his Maker? One flash of lightning hath consumed this one and fifty. And if all the hosts of Israel, yea, of the world, had been in their rooms, there had needed no other force. What madness is it for him, whose breath is in his nostrils, to contend with the Almighty! Bp. H.

11,12. Undismayed by what had happened, the king now sent another captain and his fifty upon the same errand; but there is a difference in the message. It is even harsher and more imperative than before. “O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly.” There was no “quickly” in the first demand. In the second there is. The message on the first occasion had perhaps not been imperative enough. A greater show of boldness may alarm the prophet. But Elijah answered as he had already done: “If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty.” The miracle of destruction was instantly repeated: “The fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.”

13. A third company was now sent, and so far apparently without any change in the king’s mind. But there was a change in the temper of the captain to whom the charge had been committed. Insolence, scorn, impiety have no place in his mind. He exhibits meekness and submission. He “came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee let my life and the life of these fifty be precious in thy sight.” W. M.

14-16. Elijah does more than grant the request of this third captain. God is not severer with those that stand it out against Him than He is ready to show mercy to those that repent and submit to Him; never any found it in vain to cast themselves upon the mercy of God. This captain not only has his life spared, but is permitted to carry his point; Elijah, being so commanded by the angel, goes down with him to the king (verse 15). Thus he shows that he before refused to come, not because he feared the king or court, but because he would not be imperiously summoned, and would not lessen the honor of his Master; he magnifies his office. He comes boldly to the king and tells him to his face (let him take it as he may) what he had before sent to him (verse 16), that he should surely and shortly die; he mitigates not the sentence either for fear of the king’s displeasure or in pity to his misery : the God of Israel has condemned him, let him send to see whether the god of Ekron can deliver him. So thunderstruck is Ahaziah with this message when it comes from the prophet’s own mouth, that neither he nor any of those about him durst offer him any violence, nor so much as give him an affront ; but out of that den of lions he comes unhurt, like Daniel. Who can harm those whom God will shelter ? H.

The awful destruction by fire from heaven, at the word of Elijah, of the two first parties sent to apprehend him, must have tended powerfully to impress upon the nation the fact that the Lord still asserted His right to reign over them, and would be known to them in His protesting judgments, since they would not know Him in His mercies. His cheerful going with the third party, the leader of which approached him with humble entreaties, must have suggested that the door to those mercies was still open to those who becomingly approached it. This was practical preaching of the kind that this people could most easily understand. The fearless prophet repeated in person to the king the words of rebuke and death that he had sent by the messengers ; and the doomed king was too awestruck, after what had passed, to make any attempt upon his liberty or life. According to his prediction, Ahaziah died soon after, and, as he had no son, was succeeded by his brother Jehoram. Kitto.

According to the word of the prophet, Ahaziah dies. Not two whole years doth he sit in the throne of Israel, which he now must yield, in the want of children, to his brother. Wickedness shortens his reign. He had too much of Ahab and Jezebel to expect the blessing, either of length or prosperity of government. As always in the other, so ofttimes in this world doth God testify His anger to wicked men. Some live long that they may aggravate their judgment ; others die soon that they may hasten it. Bp. H.

17. In the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat.** The similarity of names in the two royal houses of Israel and Judah at this time, and at no other, seems to be the consequence of the close ties which for once united the two reigning families, and is well noted among the “undesigned coincidences” of the Old Testament. The accession of the Israelite Jehoram in the second year of the Jewish king of the same name involves some difficulty. In chap. 3 : 1 we are told that he ascended the throne in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat ; and this agrees with previous statements as to the accession of Jehoshaphat and the length of his reign. B. C.—The apparent discrepancy is reconciled by supposing that Jehoshaphat associated his son Jehoram in the kingdom in his seventeenth year, when he was about to enter upon the Syrian war, so that the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat was also the second year of Jehoram. It is certain that association was largely practised in Egypt at a date long anterior to Jehoshaphat, and David’s proclamation of Solomon as king was an association, so that the explanation is not untenable. Because he had no son—i.e., because he, Ahaziah, had no son, he was succeeded by his younger brother, Jehoram. P. C.

2. K. 1 : 17, 18.** Unwritten history. Ahaziah died, and Jehoram his brother succeeded him. “The rest of his acts” were written “in the book of the chronicles of the Kings of Israel ;” but Scripture has not preserved them. Why should it ? What was there in the records of that brief and evil existence to entitle the memory of it to live ? “The memory of the just is blessed ; but the name of the wicked shall rot” (Prov. 10 : 7). Enough is written to hold him up to after-ages as an example of the certainty of retribution. Then Scripture buries him with the epitaph, “So he died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken.” J. O.

Principles applicable here and elsewhere. God is sovereign in putting down and raising up (Ps. 75 : 7), and He decides all human issues. But equally the other and balancing truth is made evident in all this inspired history : that man is left free to work, in his sphere, as he wills. No compulsion is upon him stronger than motive ; and that motive attracting and persuading the soul in one direction—a wise, right and happy direction. Both God’s sovereign working and man’s unconstrained working are plainly revealed as facts ; facts which enforce a belief in both truths, though they do not touch the explanation of the underlying mystery. A further hint of relief we find in this additional fact manifest in the history : Although God has announced a definite course of action toward the nation, yet He deals with every king and his people according to their own conduct ; nay, more, although He has foretold the nation’s doom on account of its iniquities, yet He continues to hold forth every motive and to exercise every means to save it. From this we learn, at least, that God’s sovereignty is not arbitrary—exercised without reason ; and that it is gracious—exercised for good alone. B.