first, but soon his religious mind became disturbed at the want of all consecration of the enterprise, and at finding that no token of God's approval or blessing was asked for or expected.

ems

Ahab, who had lived among wonders all his life--the true miracles of Elijah and the false magic of Jezebel and her prophets-seem to have been by this time in a state of dull distrust and disbelief of all alike, and only to have wished, in his cowardly heart, to keep from hearing any disagreeable truth; but he was obliged to comply, for the sake of appearances, with the request of his guest ; so proclamation was made that the prophets in the land should ask the will of God concerning the expedition. There was no lack of favourable answers-probably from prophets of Ashtoreth, of the high places and the calves—but Jehoshaphat felt that all the answers had the hollow ring of flattery, and would not be satisfied without a true prophet of the Lord. Elijah had withdrawn into the wilderness, and only one prophet of the Lord was at hand, apparently in captivity, since Ahab confessed that he hated him for prophesying only evil. Alas! how many hate those who rebuke them, instead of so acting as to turn the prophecy to good!

Here is a grand scene before us. In the open space beside the gateway of Samaria were placed two thrones, and on them sat the two kings, in their purple robes and diadems, while the prophets-probably men in various fantastic garments—danced and sang their chants of victory. One of them, Zedekiah, in allusion to the bullock or unicorn of Joseph, brought a pair of iron horns,saying that like an ox Ahab should drive the Syrians to their destruction. Then, in the midst of all these courtly auguries, there stood among the prophets a man-grave, stern, sad--bearing the traces of imprisonment. Ahab asked him the question. He answered in the same words as the others, but with a tone that implied, "There, now you have all you care to hear!" Ahab, always weak, was constrained by Jehoshaphat's stronger spirit to press Micaiah to speak further. Then he heard of a vision of Israel scattered on the hills, masterless and leaderless. He turned to Jehoshaphat, with a bitter smile at the man's persistency in evil forebodings, in contrast to the great promises around. Then Micaiah spoke yet more solemnly. Heaven itself had been open to him in a vision. He had seen the counsel of the Almighty,

made comprehensible to man's understanding as a king on his throne, speaking of the means that were to tempt Ahab to fulfil his destiny and fall at Ramoth-gilead. Then came forth the evil spirit, and undertook to be a lying spirit in the mouth of all the prophets, so that they were fully in earnest in thinking themselves inspired to predict a victory. Observe, God did not tempt them ; He permitted the evil spirit to deceive them, but only after by a long course of false prophecies they had deserved it. It is the especial punishment on falsehood in all times, to become unable to see the truth. "And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.” (Ezek. xiv. 9.) So God spake in later times by Ezekiel; and of deceivers in Christian times St. Paul said-"God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” (2 Thess. ii. 11). So it is the terrible punishment of wilful falsehood to be at last so entirely in the power of Satan, the lying spirit, as to believe one's own lie! Zedekiah did so entirely when he struck at Micaiah and scoffed at his awful vision. Micaiah only answered by telling him how he would soon be striving to hide from danger; and when Ahab in wrath and fury sentenced this speaker of evil omen to be closely imprisoned till his own return in peace, he replied, "If thou return in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me," and called on all the people to note his prediction.

LESSON XXII.

THE BATTLE OF RAMOTH-GILEAD.

B.C. 897.-I KINGS xxii. 30—40; 2 CHRON. xix. I—II.

And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.

But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.

And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat,

that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him : and Jehoshaphat cried out.

And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.

And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness : * wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.

And the battle increased that day: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.

And there went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country.

So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.

And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armour; according unto the word of the LORD which he spake.

Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.

And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem.

And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD.

Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.

And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through the people from Beer-sheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the LORD God of their fathers.

And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city,

And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment.

Wherefore now 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 respect of persons, nor taking of gifts. §

Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites, and of the priests, and of the chief of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of the LORD, and for controversies, when they returned to Jerusalem.

And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the LORD, faithfully, and with a perfect heart.

And what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in

Between the joinings of his coat of mail.

: Making a difference.

+ Injustice.
Receiving bribes

their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, ye shall even warn them that they trespass not against the LORD, and so wrath come upon you, and upon your brethren : this do, and ye shall not trespass.

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, for all the king's matters: also the Levites shall be officers before you. Deal courageously, and the LORD shall be with the good.

COMMENT.—It must have been with a heavy heart that Jehoshaphat set forth on the unblest expedition to Ramoth in Gilead, but he had given his word, and he could not go back from it. It even seems as if he expected to die in the battle which he knew could not prosper, for he appointed his youngest son Jehoram to be king, doubtless to save confusion in case he were slain ; and Jehoram's reign is counted from this time. Nay, he even carried his generosity so far as to consent to Ahab's mean-spirited plan. Ahab, though he had weakly spared Benhadad, knew that the special hatred of the Syrians was against his own person, and he had further been made uneasy, though not repentant, by the prophecies against him. So he proposed to go into the battle merely as an ordinary captain, while Jehoshaphat alone should wear his kingly robes, which would draw all the special danger off himself and upon the king of Judah! It appears that, since chariots and horses had been brought up from Egypt, the chiefs on either side fought, not on foot, as Jonathan, David, and his mighty men had done, like the hardy mountaineers they were, but like other Eastern kings, and the heroes of Greek poetry—in war chariots, which were driven by a charioteer, while the great man himself launched his javelins and gave his orders from this elevation. Jehoshaphat in the royal chariot was first attacked; but the Lord was watching over his servant, even in his error, and the Syrian captains perceived their mistake, and turned away in quest of Ahab. But it was not given to any of them to slay the prize of the day. It was a man bending his bow "in his simplicity," without special aim, whose arrow struck Ahab in the joint of his armour, as though it had been guided by the surest of hands, as indeed it had. He had hidden from the Syrians; he could not hide from God. In his agony he begged to be taken out of the battle; but there was no rest for him—the throng thickened, and he was held up in his chariot till night, when he died, and his men

dispersed over the hills to their homes, as Micaiah had seen them in his vision. His corpse was brought to Samaria, his chariot was washed in the great pool outside the city, and the dogs licked his blood. It was not in the same place as that where they had licked Naboth's (unless, indeed, that victim had been brought for execution to Samaria), but that part of the judgment had been put off to his son's time. So closes that sad story of Ahab's weakness and wickedness, and God's merciful long-suffering. It is one to be much thought of; for Ahab—who shrank from severe truths, hated those who reproved him, and tried not to know when others did wrong in his name and for his pleasure--is like only too many of us.

Jehoshaphat brought his army home in safety, but the prophet Jehu, son of that Hanani who had rebuked his father, came out to meet him, and rebuked him for having joined himself with the ungodly, telling him that he had brought down God's anger on his family, for truly he had brought in a seed of corruption from which the kingdom of Judah never entirely recovered. But Jehoshaphat, unlike Ahab, unlike his own father Asa, took the prophet's rebuke in all meekness, and only strove more to reform his kingdom. Again he went throughout his lands, by personal influence bringing his subjects to turn wholly to the Lord, labouring perhaps the more fervently because the miseries of a land without true faith or worship had just been brought before him. Moreover, he appointed judges in all the cities, charging them strictly to do their office as representing God the Judge himself. He did not speak of their duty to himself, or to society, but of their duty to God. Thus they were to guard themselves against showing favour to their friends or to the rich, or from accepting bribes. Besides this, there seems to have been a court at Jerusalem, presided over by Amariah, the high priest, to which questions of the religious law might be carried, and another under Zebadiah, the ruler of the house of Judah, for worldly questions of justice. "Deal courageously, and the Lord shall be with the good,” says Jehoshaphat, whose name meant “the judgment of the Lord."

It is said that the eighty-second Psalm was the song of instruction framed for his judges. It reminds them of their being in the place of God Himself, the Judge among gods-that is, spiritual powers or angels—and then warns them against wrong judgment,