covered it had rolled away, and that its setting was bright with the radiance of life and immortality."* "No monarch in history can be compared, on the whole, with Solomon-magnificence being the main quality of Israel's great king. The spring-tide of success which was his history-the abundance of his peace-his inexhaustible wealth-the pomp of his establishment-the splendour of the house, and the temple which he built-the variety of his gifts and accomplishments the richness and diversified character of his writings, and the manifold homage paid him by surrounding tribes and monarchs-all proclaimed him 'the grand monarch of Palestine,' and have rendered Solomon and his glory' proverbial to this hour. It was he that first proved to the world, that peace has greater triumphs and richer glories than war. All the useful as well as the elegant arts found in him at once a pattern and a patron. But every man has a dark period in his career, whether it is publicly known or concealed. Solomon, too, had his hour and power of darkness.' Stern justice forbids us to wink at its principal cause. It was luxury aggravated into sin. Fulness of bread, security, splendour, wealth, like many suns shining at once on his head, enfeebled and corrupted a noble nature. Amid the mazy dance of strange women, he was whirled away into the embrace of demon gods. The general opinion of the Church, founded upon the book of Ecclesiastes, is, that he repented and forsook his sins before death. On Solomon's fate we dare pronounce no judgment; but even granting his final happiness, it is no pleasing task to record the mistakes, the sins, the sorrows, nor even the repentance of a being originally so noble. If at evening time it was light with him, yet did not a scorching splendour torment the noon, and did not thunders, melting into heavy showers, obscure the after-day? The glory of Solomon' is a troubled and fearful glory. On all sides, bright or black, he was equally and roundly great. Like a pyramid, the shadow he cast in one direction was as vast as the light he received on the other. "With a bound of gladness, we pass from the dark uncertain close of Solomon's life to his works and genius. In these he exhibits himself in three aspects-a poetical proverbialist, a poetical inquirer, and a poetical lover; the first, in his Proverbs; the second, in his book of Ecclesiastes; and the third, in his Song of Songs." + The volumes from which these closing extracts have been taken only require to be read, that they may be appreciated and admired. *Rev. R. Buchanan, D.D., Glasgow. † Rev. G. Gilfillan, Dundee. EXERCISES. Where did the Lord appear to Solomon? For what did Solomon pray? What answer did he receive? In what have we the first display of Solomon's wisdom to judge? What was the extent of the territories of his kingdom? What was his provision for one day? What was the number of his Proverbs and his Songs? Who prepared the timber and stones for building the house of the Lord? How many were employed in the work? In what manner did Solomon dedicate the temple? By whom was he led into idolatry? How long did he reign? In what year of the world did he die? How long was that before the birth of Christ? Where was he buried? What is the general opinion of the Church concerning his last end? CHAPTER XIV. FROM THE END OF SOLOMON'S REIGN TO THAT OF HOSHEA. Reign of Rehoboam-Revolt of the Ten Tribes-Of the Kings who It has been already noticed, that, during Solomon's happy and peaceful reign, "the Hebrew commonwealth reached its highest measure of prosperity, and possessed an extent of territory beyond that of any former or subsequent period of its history. But this condition of things, which made the Jews the most powerful and flourishing nation of Western Asia, and procured for their wise and magnificent king the respect and admiration of the world, ended with his reign. The headstrong folly of his son and successor caused a disastrous change. Upon his accession to the throne, he despised the counsel of old men, and hearkened to the advice of rash young men; he threatened the nation of Israel to make their yoke heavier than his father had done, saying, 'I will add to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people said unto the king, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel.' The empire was then rent in twain. Accordingly, as it had been predicted, ten tribes renounced their allegiance, and formed themselves into a separate kingdom under Jeroboam, leaving to Rehoboam the united tribes of Judah and Benjamin. "Henceforth two rival kingdoms existed in the land, weaken ing each other by their frequent strife, and calling down upon themselves the judgments of God for their wickedness and idolatry." "Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem. And there was war between him and Jeroboam all their days. And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead."-1 Kings xiv. 21-31. We shall now briefly notice the kings who reigned over Israel after they were separated from Judah. These were nineteen, and not one of them was good, or did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. Jeroboam the first, Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehoram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, Joash, Jeroboam the second, Zachariah, Shallum, Manahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, and Hoshea. JEROBOAM THE FIRST, being established as king over the ten tribes, and fearing that, if the people went up frequently to sacrifice at Jerusalem, they would be tempted to return again to Rehoboam king of Judah, in order to prevent this, "he made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan," and taught the people to worship before them. "And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi."-1 Kings xii. 31. God manifested his displeasure against this worship, by sending a prophet to the altar at Bethel, who foretold that a son of the house of David, Josiah by name, should burn the bones of Jeroboam's priests upon the altar. After this, by Ahijah, the Lord threatened the house of Jeroboam with utter destruction, so that none of them should find a grave except Abijah, his youngest son, "because in him there was found some good thing toward the LORD GOD of Israel. And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he reigned, behold they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. And the years which Jeroboam reigned were twenty and two: and he slept with his fathers; and NADAB his son reigned in his stead" for two years; and he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin;" and BAASHA, the son of Ahijah, slew him at Gibbethon, and reigned in his stead. "Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, Behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha. Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the field shall the fowls of the air eat. fathers; and ELAH his son reigned in his stead. drinking himself drunk in the house servant So Baasha slept with his When he was in Tirzah, of Arza his steward, his ZIMRI, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, but only for the brief space of seven days. OMRI, being captain of the host, went up and besieged Tirzah, the royal city. And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house, and burnt the palace, and perished in the flames. Then were the people of Israel divided: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Genath, to make him king; and half followed Omri. But the people that followed Omri prevailed: so Tibni died, and Omri reigned twelve years, and wrought evil in the sight of the LORD, and did worse than all that were before him. So he slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria; and AHAB his son reigned in his stead. Twenty and two years reigned he over Israel in Samaria; and did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. "Under the reign of the wicked Ahab, and his still more wicked and worthless queen, Jezebel, clouds and thick darkness cover the whole land of Israel; idolatrous temples and heathen altars occupy the sacred soil; every hill smokes with their sacrifices, every vale resounds with the blasphemous yells of their cruel priesthood. Then, and there, behold the man of God commencing his career with an unheardof act of faith, standing in the midst of his foes before the tyrant Ahab, and, in the name of the LORD God of Israel, closing the heavens over them, and changing the firmament into iron and brass, and the dew of heaven was restrained during three years and six months."* During this famine the prophet is commanded by God to go and hide himself by the brook Cherith, and the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning and the evening; and he drank of the water of the brook.-1 Kings xvii. 5, 6. When the brook was dried up, God sent him to a widow woman at Sarepta, near Sidon, to be maintained by her, when she had only a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse. Here God wonderfully increased the oil and the meal, so that the barrel of meal * Dr Krummacher. wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, till God sent rain upon the land. "And it came to pass after these things, that the son of this woman fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. And Elijah took him, and laid him upon his own bed, and stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he delivered him unto his mother." In 1 Kings xviii. 1-16, we find Elijah, at the commandment of Jehovah, leaving Sarepta, meeting first with Obadiah, the governor of Ahab's house, afterwards with Ahab, who said unto him, "Art thou he that troubleth Israel?" Elijah, like himself, boldly returns the charge upon the despotic king, saying, "I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim. And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call upon the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people said, It is well spoken. And it came to pass at the time of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, The LORD, he is the God." Elijah's faith is crowned, the foolish priests are put to shame, and all the gods which are not the God of the Bible are confounded and annihilated. Again, on Carmel's summit, we find this prophet kneeling down, closing his eyes, bending his head forwards towards his knees, and in this posture, behold him praying to |