that he saddled for him the ass, to wit,* for the prophet whom he had brought back.

And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.

And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him.

And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.

And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass.

And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him.

And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!

And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones :

For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Beth-el, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.

COMMENT.-It seems as if the command to go straight back to Judah from Bethel had been especially given with a view to the weakness of the prophet's character. He kept it at first. He had done nobly in the sight of men, but when he was alone he gave way to the first temptation, and it is to be observed that all the harm came of this slight act of disobedience. He sat down under an oak to rest. So he exposed himself to all the trial that proved too strong for him. Depend upon it, most temptations come when we are loitering, or in some way or other not strictly obedient.

In the meantime there was an old prophet at Bethel, who had not quitted the place when Jeroboam defiled it, and, if he had not gone to the idolatrous festival himself, had allowed his sons to go thither. Some think, indeed, that he wanted to persuade the man of God from Judah to come over to Jeroboam's side, or that he was jealous

* That is to say.

of the new influence that was drawing the king away from Bethel, as if it were more than mere curiosity that led him to play the part he did. A wicked part it was. He was not afraid to pretend to have had direct commands from Heaven to lead his brother to transgress. It might be hard for the prophet of Judah to know whether this were the truth, but it was a difficulty he had brought on himself by lingering so as to be overtaken. Even then, a sincere prayer for an answer from God would almost certainly have shown him what to do ; but no doubt his will was to go back and 'enjoy the wonder of Bethel at the effects of his words. He went back to the festival, where the food had been offered to the calf of Bethel. But, how marvellous ! The power of God forced the tempter himself to speak. He it was who was forced to pronounce the sentence on disobedience: "Thy carcase shall not come into the sepulchre of thy fathers." This did not appear to mean that the doom should come immediately, only that the prophet should die far from his home, and he set forth without special fear; but, ere long, word was brought back of the strange sight of the dead man by the wayside, watched by the ass and by the lion. The ass stood fearlessly beside the wild beast, which had not touched either it or the corpse, but stood there, kept as it were as a silent witness that it had been the messenger of its Creator. And so, with a stricken heart, the old prophet carried back the body to his own burial place, a cave in the rocks, and bade his sons take care that he himself should lie close beside, with a sense that God would guard the remains of His servant from being burnt on the altar of the calf. For the disobedient prophet, as we call him, was God's servant. He fell through weakness, and if his doom was heavy, it was a doom affecting this life, not the next. Only, let us take from the sad story the fear of small acts of disobedience, and the still greater fear of leading others to disobey, even when we cannot understand the use of the commands under which they are laid.

LESSON IV.

THE DEATH OF JEROBOAM'S CHILD.

ABOUT B.C. 970.-1 KINGS xiii. 33-xiv. 18.

After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.

And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.

At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.

And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people.

And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels,* and a cruset of honey, and go to him he shall tell thee what shall become of the child.

And.Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.

And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee, for her son; for he is sick thus and thus shalt thou say unto her for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman.

And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.

Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel,

And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes;

But hast done evil above all that were before thee for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:

Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam.

Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat; for the LORD hath spoken it. Arise thou, therefore, get thee to thine own house and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.

And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.

* Cakes marked with points.

Small vessel.

Moreover, the LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day : but what? even now.

For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall rcot up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger.

And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.

And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah : and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died;

And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.

COMMENT.-If Jeroboam were warned for a time, he soon fell back into his evil courses, and, while he thought he was securing his kingdom, was really ruining it. Another warning fell on him. His son, born in the happier and better times, bearing the same name as the young heir of Judah, and a child of hope and promise, fell sick. Jeroboam's calf-worship did not come from faith, but policy. He believed all the time in the true prophet, and in the time of his trouble he turned to the real prophet, Ahijah, who had foretold his kingdom. Jeroboam kept his court at Tirzah, in the tribe of Ephraim; Ahijah, now old and blind, lived by the deserted sanctuary at Shiloh ; and Jeroboam, afraid or ashamed to have it known that he turned to him for comfort or counsel, made his wife disguise herself and take offerings that befitted a peasant woman rather than a queen. Little use was there in the disguise. God had already revealed to His servant both her coming and His message, and as she reached the door the old man greeted her with rebuke, yet with pity, as he made known to her the heavy tidings with which God had charged him. Jeroboam had not chosen to reign on God's terms; therefore his family were to be cut off, not only from the throne, like that of Saul, but they were to perish utterly, and die by terrible deaths. Only this one child, Abijah, should die in peace, because there was some good in him; and this sentence was mercy to him, by taking him from the evil to come, though it was punishment to his parents, and the first token of the doom that was to fall, first on the house of Jeroboam, and then upon the new kingdom that he was adorning with strong cities and strengthening by alliances. He had poisoned his hopes at their source. Even the future captivity of Israel beyond the river

namely, the Euphrates-was foretold by the blind prophet, though the prediction was not fulfilled for two centuries and a half, during which, no doubt, the calf-worshippers laughed it to scorn. So the mother went home with her sad tidings, and, as she entered her own house, found her son had that moment died. He was buried with the pomp of a king's son, and all Israel sung their lamentation over him. They had better have wept for themselves and their children, for the early death of the boy had been his blessing. Who knows how he had mourned for his father's idolatry, how he had prayed towards the glorious Temple from which he was cut off, while, had he lived, he must have either joined in the idolatry, or had a cruel and bitter struggle with his father and the people! At any rate, we know that young Abijah was the only happy one of the house of Jeroboam.

LESSON V.

REIGN OF REHOBOAM IN JUDAH.

B.C. 975-957.—2 CHRON. xi. and xii. (abridged)

And Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built cities for defence in Judah. And he fortified the strong holds, and put captains in them, and store of victual, and of oil and wine.

And in every several city he put shields and spears, and made them exceeding strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side.

And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their coasts.

For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest's office unto the LORD:

And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.

And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers.

So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.

And Rehoboam made Abijah the son of Maachah the chief, to be ruler among his brethren: for he thought to make him king.

And he dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his children throughout all the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city: and he gave them victual in abundance. And he desired many wives.