plan, which they had more than once betrayed even in the time of the Judges. So strong had Ephraim grown in the north of Canaan, that it there represented all Israel, and the kingdom of Ephraim became another term for the kingdom of Israel. Judah and Benjamin alone remained faithful to Rehoboam and the house of David; the ten other tribes separated, and proclaimed Jeroboam their king.

Rehoboam, determined not to give up his power without a struggle, sent Adoram, the hated tribute gatherer, to enforce subjection; but Adoram was stoned to death by the infuriated people. Then the king assembled the flower of his army, the brave men of Judah and the fleet warriors of Benjamin, to march against the rebel tribes; but Shemaiah the prophet appeared before the hosts, and in the name of the Lord bade them return to their homes, as they would not prevail. Obedient to his warning, they dispersed, and Rehoboam was compelled to leave the whole of northern Canaan to his rival.

Thus the great empire of Solomon was divided into two kingdoms, that of Judah, and that of Israel or Ephraim. The history of each, to be well understood, must be told separately. We shall begin with the northern state, which came to a speedier end.

Judah, the southern empire, comprising merely the old territories of Judah and Benjamin, was the less blooming and fertile of the two kingdoms. Its rugged hill-tops and mountain crags are familiar to us from the adventures of David. But its climate is invigorating; its people were hardy and bold, its herds of goats and sheep were famous in the land. The men of Judah resisted for the longest time the sword of foreign invaders, and they valiantly shielded their precious treasure, the Temple.

Israel, the northern kingdom, was renowned for its beauty and luxuriant fertility. It included the rich

plains of Samaria with their glowing vineyards and waving fields of wheat, the shady groves of Carmel and the wooded heights of Lebanon. It was long called the garden of Palestine. It comprised the whole territory from the frontiers of Benjamin up to Dan at the foot of Mount Hermon. Its splendid line of sea-coast stretched from Zidon almost down to Joppa. Within its boundaries flowed nearly the whole length of the river Jordan, from its source almost to the point where it passes into the Dead Sea.

Both kingdoms were governed by many evil monarchs, and the good reigns were but few; yet the empire of Israel was particularly unfortunate in its kings, its idolatry was the most flagrant, and its morality the most corrupt.

X. THE EMPIRE OF ISRAEL OR EPHRAIM.

(975-722.)

105. JEROBOAM (975-954).

[1 KINGS XII-XIV.; 2 CHRON. XIII.]

THE kingdom of Judah enjoyed the great advantage of including the capital Jerusalem proudly enthroned upon a fortress of rocks, and of possessing the magnificent Temple, the shrine of the Ark of God. To this one. common and sacred spot the entire congregation journeyed three times in the year; and the priests and Levites who officiated within its precincts were looked upon as specially appointed and hallowed for their sacred functions. Jeroboam was well aware of the love and devotion with which the people clung to the revered House of God, and he painfully felt the want of such a religious centre in his northern kingdom. He even apprehended danger for the safety of his throne, and he argued: 'Now will the kingdom return to the house of David, if this people go up to sacrifice in the House of the Lord at Jerusalem; then will the heart of this people turn again to their master, to Rehoboam, king of Judah, and they will kill me and go again to Rehoboam, king of Judah.' He dwelt in a city which he built upon the site of the ancient Shechem in Mount Ephraim, and he fortified Penuel as a

defence against his enemies. And in order to procure some substitute for the Temple, he consecrated two places for religious worship-one in Beth-el, an ancient sanctuary even from the time of the early patriarchs, and therefore dear to the people by many associations; and one in Dan, at the northern boundary of the land. In these two towns he publicly introduced the worship of the Egyptian Apis. Setting up two golden calves for idols, he proclaimed, 'Behold thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt;' and as priests of this idolatrous service he appointed men, not from the families of Levi, but from any of the tribes of Israel. In imitation of the Feast of Tabernacles celebrated in Jerusalem on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, Jeroboam instituted a festival in the middle of the following month. He went himself to Beth-el to offer the first sacrifices at the new sanctuary. In the presence of the whole congregation he stood before the altar, and was in the act of burning incense to the idol, when suddenly there appeared before him a man of God' from the land of Judah. The prophet, as if impelled by sudden inspiration, addressed the altar itself: 'O altar, altar, thus says the Lord.. Behold the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.' The enraged king, hearing these words, put forth his hands and called out to his servants, 'Lay hold of him!' But his hand withered, the altar was rent, and the ashes fell to the ground. The alarmed king exclaimed, Entreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me that my hand may be restored to me again.' Upon the prophet's prayer the king's hand was restored. Jeroboam now gratefully entreated the seer to come with him to his palace and refresh himself; but the prophet had been commanded by the Lord to eat no bread and drink no water while on his sacred mission. So he set out on his way back from Beth-el. The whole

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story of this prophet is mysterious: we know not the city from whence he came, nor the name he bore, nor the meaning of the awful fate which befell him on his return home. There dwelt in Beth-el an aged prophet, whose sons had been present at the morning's sacrifice, and who had told him of the strange scenes they had witnessed. Desirous to see and to test this prophet of the Lord, the old man saddled his ass, and rode off to overtake the wayfarer. He found him sitting under the branches of a terebinth, and begged of him to return and eat bread with him in his house. He received the same answer which had been given to the king; but he pressed again, saying, ‘I am a prophet as thou art, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord saying, "Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread and drink water." Misled by this feigned vision, the man of Judah went back to Beth-el, and sat down at the table of the old prophet. Whilst eating the meal, he heard the voice of the Lord accusing him of disobedience, and foretelling his punishment, that he should not be buried in the grave of his fathers. He rose to leave Beth-el, and mounted the ass which the aged prophet had given him. A lion met him on the road, seized and killed him, but neither touched his corpse nor harmed the ass: the body of the dead man lay upon the road, and the lion and the ass stood quietly beside him. Travellers brought the report of this strange occurrence to Beth-el. When the old prophet heard it, he at once guessed what had happened, and saddling an ass, he rode forth again, and soon found the body of the man of God. He raised and laid it carefully upon the ass, and brought it back into the city. There he buried it in his own family grave with the repeated cry: Alas, my brother!' and enjoined upon his sons, that when he died they should bury him by the side of the prophet.