married Athaliah, the daughter of the wicked and revengeful Jezebel. Like her mother, Athaliah was a fanatic idolatress and worshipper of Baal; she brought her images and her priests with her into the city of Jerusalem, and succeeded too well in gaining the fickle people to her side. Thus lawlessness and superstition were rampant throughout the land. The proud and warlike Edomites, who had long watched for an opportunity to shake off the hated bondage, now revolted from a rule of combined weakness and crime; they proclaimed their independence, and elected a king from among their own people-thus realising the prediction contained in Isaac's blessing:

'And by thy sword shalt thou live,

Yet shalt thou serve thy brother :

But when thou truly desirest it,

Thou shalt break his yoke from thy neck.'

Probably encouraged by the success of this rebellion, the Philistines and the Arabians took up arms against Judah; they advanced unopposed through the southern districts of the kingdom, and reaching Jerusalem, they broke into the palace, plundered it of its treasures, and carried away Joram's wives and children, leaving behind only his youngest son Ahaziah. Even some towns of Judea herself, as Libnah, succeeded in withdrawing from the king's feeble government. Joram died of a fearful illness, and was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the royal sepulchre, and without the funeral honours that the people had accorded to his father.

135. AHAZIAH AND INTERREGNUM (884-877). [2 KINGS VIII. 24-IX. 29; 2 CHRON. XXII. 9-XXIII. 21.] Ahaziah, the youngest son of Joram, and the only one who had escaped captivity, and who now succeeded him.

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upon the throne, was entirely swayed by his mother Athaliah, who was the evil genius of his reign, and who in every way fostered the growth of idolatry.

Ahaziah allied himself with his uncle Jehoram, the king of Israel, in the warfare which he carried on at Ramoth Gilead against Hazael, king of Syria. Wounded during the siege, he left the camp and repaired to Jezreel, where he was joined by Jehoram. From that capital the two kings witnessed the approach of the impetuous Jehu, who had by Elisha been anointed king of Israel (p. 477): Jehoram, who set out to meet Jehu, was pierced by him with an arrow; Ahaziah in the first panic fled northwards and hid himself in the neighbouring country, but he was overtaken at Megiddo and brought before Jehu, who mercilessly ordered him to be killed, yet allowed his body to be taken to Jerusalem, where he was buried in the grave of his ancestors.

In her royal palace, Athaliah heard the tidings of her son's murder; goaded on by frenzy and vindictiveness, she resolved to exterminate all the members of the reigning house of Judah, and almost succeeded in her mad design; indeed she believed that she had succeeded completely. She now ruled supreme over the southern kingdom, which sighed under the yoke of her relentless tyranny.

But the royal line of David was not extinct: one feeble child of Ahaziah, Joash, then only a year old, had been saved from the general massacre by the care and vigilance of his aunt Jehosheba, a sister of the king, and wife of the High-priest Jehoiada. For six years Joash was kept hidden in the house of his anxious relatives.

In the beginning of the seventh year, the High-priest determined to wrest the throne by a bold stroke from the heathen queen, and to secure it for the young scion of Judah. It was a daring, but by no means a hopeless scheme. In

spite of the great progress which idolatry had made during the preceding reigns, and of the very large number of priests and prophets of Baal who infested Jerusalem, there were still many of the people who remained true to the pure worship of the One God, and who longed to avenge the blood of the house of David. In the same city stood the Temple of the Lord and the house of Baal; in the one Jehoiada sacrificed and prayed, in the other the priest Mattan invoked the images of his deities. Athaliah had not attempted to forbid the worship of the Lord; indeed she found she could not destroy the authority of the Temple; and thus it became possible for the conspiracy, planned in secrecy and with prudence, to be carried out. The Levites were, by request of Jehoiada, assembled in Jerusalem from all parts of Judah; to those servants of the Lord was added an army of warriors whose loyalty and obedience could be relied upon. On a Sabbath morning, as if to celebrate the usual worship, a vast congregation might have been seen pouring into the Temple. This concourse of people was divided into separate bands; one portion guarded the doors of the holy place, another kept watch at the outer gates, a third was stationed round the porch of the palace, whilst a number of armed Levites formed the bodyguard of the young Joash. The commanders and captains were armed with the shields and spears of king David. When all was ready and well prepared, Jehoiada brought the child into the Temple, placed the royal crown upon his head, and handed over to him the laws of the empire. He was instantly greeted with the cry of God save the king!' That cry was taken up by the guards stationed at the gates, and ringing forth through the air, it startled and amazed the unsuspecting queen. She boldly hastened forth from her palace, and looking into the Court of the Temple, beheld the crowned child standing on the elevated

place reserved for the king, and surrounded by an enthusiastic multitude shouting forth their vows of allegiance with the blasts of the trumpets. Then she felt that the day of retribution had come; she rent her clothes, exclaiming, Treason! treason!' She might have fallen a victim to the popular fury, had not Jehoiada, fearful of sacrilege in the Temple, exclaimed, 'Take her away beyond the lines, and whoso follows her, let him be slain by the sword-slay her not in the House of the Lord!' The warriors drew her forth from the Temple, and hurried her along between the hosts of armed men, till they came to the gates of the palace, where they slew her-the last remnant of the wicked house of Omri. Then the people rushed upon the temple of Baal, tore down the altars, broke the idols, and killed the chief priest Mattan. And now Jehoiada, no less distinguished by wisdom than patriotism, solemnly concluded a double covenant; on the one hand between God and the people of Judah that it might be the people of the Lord,' and on the other hand, between the king and the people; by the one he secured a theocratic, by the other a constitutional rule; and he thus established institutions fitted both for a holy and a free nation. Then Joash proceeded to Mount Zion, and entered the palace of his royal ancestors.

136. JOASH (877-838).

[2 KINGS XI. XII; 2 CHRON. XXIV.]

Being a mere child only seven years old when he came to the throne, Joash remained for many years longer under the guidance of the High-priest Jehoiada, who instructed and advised him, and firmly implanted in his mind the truths of the Mosaic faith. Yet though all other forms of strange worship were abolished, the service

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on the high places, which had evidently taken deep root, was carried on as before. The king's special care was directed towards the maintenance of the Temple and its service. The holy edifice had during the last two unhappy reigns fallen into sad decay; its very walls were seriously injured by neglect, and it was despoiled of its gold and silver vessels, which had either been seized by foreign invaders, or been paid to them as tribute money. Joash ordered a large chest to be placed on the right side of the brazen Altar, into which the people were invited to put their offerings. This appeal was responded to with enthusiasm; the chest was soon filled with money; and the workmen commenced their labour, and carried it on with vigour. New vessels and implements of gold and silver were made, and once more the Temple was restored to its former magnificence.

Jehoiada, the High-priest, died a hundred and thirty years old, and Joash was left without a faithful friend and counsellor. This proved a great misfortune to the country; for the king, weak and easily led, listened to the seductive advice of the young nobles of Judah, and abandoned the pure worship of God for the service of Baal. Prophets arose who warned and threatened, but their words were unheeded; both king and people defied the punishment which they knew must inevitably follow upon their idolatry. Prominent among the prophetic monitors was Zachariah, the son of Jehoiada; again and again he raised his voice to denounce the idolaters; he stood boldly before the people in the Temple, and exclaimed: 'Thus says God, Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, He has also forsaken you.' The people, enraged at this reproof, and still more instigated by the ungrateful king himself, stoned the prophet to death in the gates of the Temple, and desecrated the holy place