No; the same prophet prayed to God, and He mercifully restored it to him, and it became as it was before.

At whose request did the prophet pray to God?

Jeroboam himself besought him, saying, 66 Entreat the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to

me."

What became of this prophet?

On his return back he was slain by a lion.
How did this happen?

The prophet had been commanded by God not to eat bread nor to drink water in that place, nor to return by the way along which he had gone, "and, notwithstanding this command, he allowed himself to be deceived by a false prophet, who persuaded him to come and eat with him."

But, as this false prophet said that God had commanded him to bring him back, was not the other justified in going with him?

No; because the prophet ought to have known that the false prophet was deceiving him, since Almighty God never gives contradictory commands. God cannot contradict Himself.

Had the prophet any intimation beforehand that God was angry with him?

Yes. For while the two sat at table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet, and "he cried to the man of God, who came out of Juda, saying, Thus saith the Lord, because thou hast not been obedient to the Lord, but

hast returned and eaten bread and drunk water in the place wherein He commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat bread nor drink water, thy dead body shall not be brought into the sepulchre of thy fathers."

If this old prophet 'were a false one, how could the true word of the Lord come to him?

He may have been a false prophet in one of wo ways: (1) either in pretending to have received a command from God, when he had not, and thus have told a falsehood, although he really belonged to the class of the true prophets of the Lord; or (2) he may have been a false prophet, unauthorised by God, in the same way as Balaam was a false prophet. But, just as God compelled Balaam, who wished to curse Israel, to bless him, putting true prophecies into his mouth, so in the instance of this old prophet, He made him the instrument of revealing to the man of God his approaching death.

How did his death take place?

He had scarcely parted from the old prophet, when a lion found him in the way, and killed him, and his body was cast in the way, and the ass stood by him, and the lion stood by the dead body."

Then the lion had not mangled the body?

No. In order to show clearly that this was a direct judgment from God, the lion was not permitted to touch the prophet's body.

Was there not some other reason?

Yes. The prophet was "a man of God."

He was consecrated to God, and was holy; therefore the lion did not injure it.

What sin did this prophet commit in listening to the false counsel of the old prophet?

It was a venial, and not a mortal sin, as it proceeded from want of vigilance, and not from a deliberate intention to disobey God.

Then it shews us how serious even a venial sin is in the sight of God?

Yes. The prophet was punished by a violent and untimely death. But God had mercy upon his soul.

What was done with his body after death?

The old prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and going back, brought it into the city of the old prophet to mourn for him, and he laid his dead body in his own sepulchre, and they mourned over him, saying, "Alas, alas, my brother." And when they had mourned over him, he said to his sons: "When I am dead, bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried: lay my bones beside his bones; for assuredly the word shall come to pass, which he hath foretold in the word of the Lord, against the altar that is in Bethel, and against all the temples of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria."

CHAPTER LXXII.

THE DEATH OF ABIA, THE SON OF JEROBOAM.

What was the next judgment that came upon Jeroboam?

The death of his son Abia.

How did Jeroboam act when the child fell ill?

He sent his wife, disguised as another woman, to the prophet Ahias, to know what was to become of the child.

Did she go to the prophet empty-handed?

She took with her ten loaves and cakes, and a pot of honey.

Was it not foolish to go in disguise to a true prophet of God?

Of course it was. Because, if the prophet could know the future concerning the child, he would surely know who the woman was who came to ask him.

Did he let her perceive that he knew who she was?

As soon as the prophet heard the sound of her feet coming in at the door, he said: "Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam. Why dost thou feign thyself to be another ?"

What else did he say to her?

"I am come to thee with heavy tidings." He then told her of all the heavy judgments that were to come upon the house of Jeroboam,

how they were all to be swept away and destroyed, and how this little child was to die in his infancy, before he could commit mortal sin, "because, in his regard, there is found a good word from the Lord God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam." This child alone, of the house of Jeroboam, was to be laid in a sepulchre. And when was the child to die?

As soon as the mother entered the city on her return.

Did all this take place?

Yes. "The wife of Jeroboam arose, and departed, and came to Thersa; and when she was coming in to the threshold of the house, the child died. And they buried him."-3 Kings, xiv. 17.

How many years did Jeroboam reign?

Two and twenty years.

And how many years did Roboam King of Israel reign?

Seventeen years.

What judgments came upon Judah during his reign?

The King of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the king's treasures, and car ried them all off, as also the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

What did Roboam put in place of these shields of gold?

He made shields of brass instead of them, and delivered them into the hands of the cap. tains of the shield-bearers, and of them that kept watch before the gate of the king's house.