7 And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give hee a reward. 8 And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: 9 For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest. 10 So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Beth-el. 11 Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el : and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Beth-el: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father. 12 And their father said unto them, What way went he? for his sons had seen what way the man of God went which came from Judah. 13 And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass, and he rode thereon, 14 And went after the man of God, and found 1 Sam. 9. 7. 2 Kings 5. 15. h Num. 22. 18. 24. 13. i1 Cor. 5. 11. ver. 8, 9. • son. out to burn incense to his calves, it was not withered; but when it was stretched out against a prophet, he shall have no use of it, till he humble himself. Of all the wickedness of the wicked, there is none more provoking to God than their malicious attempts against his prophets, of whom he has said, Touch them not, do them no harm. As this was a punishment of Jeroboam, and answering to the sin, so it was the deliverance of the prophet. God has many ways of disabling the enemies of his church to execute their mischievous purposes. Jeroboam's inability to pull in his hand, made him a spectacle to all about him, that they might see and fear. If God, in justice, harden the hearts of sinners, so that the hand they have stretched out in sin, they cannot pull in again by repentance, that is a spiritual judgment, represented by this, and much more dreadful. me." V. The sudden healing of the hand that was suddenly dried up, upon his submission, u. 6. That word of God which should have touched his conscience, humbled him not, but this which touched his bone and his flesh, brings down his proud spirit. He looks for help now, 1. Not from his calves, but from God only, from his power and his favour. He wounded, and no hand but his can make whole. 2. Not by his own sacrifice or incense, but by the prayer and intercession of the prophet, whom he had just now threatened, and aimed to destroy. The time may come, when those that hate the preaching, would be glad of the prayers, of faithful ministers. "Pray to the Lord thy God," says Jeroboam; "thou hast an interest in him, improve it for But observe, He does not desire him to pray that his sin might be pardoned, and his heart changed, only that his hand might be restored; thus Pharaoh would have Moses to pray that God would take away this death only, (Ex. 10. 17,) not this sin. The prophet, as became a man of God, renders good for evil, upbraids not Jeroboam with his impotent malice, nor triumphs in his submission, but immediately addresses himself to God for him. Those only are entitled to the blessing Christ pronounced on the persecuted, that learn of him to pray for their persecutors, Matt. 5. 10, 44. When the prophet thus honoured God, by showing himself of a forgiving spirit, God put this further honour upon him, that, at his word, he recalled the judgment, and by another miracle healed the withered hand; that by the goodness of God Jeroboam might be led to repentance, and if he were not broken by the judgment, yet might be melted by the mercy. With both he seemed affected for the present, but the impressions wore off. VI. The prophet's refusal of Jeroboam's kind invitation: in which observe, 1. That God forbade his messenger to eat or drink in Bethel, (v. 9,) to show his detestation of their execrable idolatry and apostacy from God, and to teach us not to have fellowship with the works of darkness, lest we have infection from them, or give encouragement to them. He must not turn back the same way, but deliver his message, as it were, in transitu-as he passes along. He shall not seem to be sent on purpose, (they were unworthy such a favour,) but as if he only called by the way, his spirit being stirred, like Paul's at Athens, as he passed, and saw their devotions, God would, by this command, try his prophet, as he did Ezekiel, whether he would not be rebellious, like that rebellious house, Ez. 2. 8. 2. That Jeroboam was so affected with the cure of his hand, that though we read not of his thanksgivings to God for the mercy, or of his sending an offering to the altar at Jerusalem, in acknowledgment of it, yet he was willing to express his gratitude to the prophet, and pay him for his prayers, v. 7. Favours to the body will make even graceless men seem grateful to good ministers. 3. That the prophet, though hungry and weary, and, perhaps, poor, in obedience to the divine command, refused both the entertainment, and the reward, proffered him. He might have supposed his acceptance of it would give him an opportunity of discoursing further with the king, in order to his effectual reformation, now that he was convinced; yet he will not think him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? and he said, I am. 15 Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. 16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee; neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: 17 For it was said to me by 'the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest. 18 He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied "unto him. 19 So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. 20 And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back: 21 And he cried unto the man of God that came t a word was. I c. 20. 35. 1 Thes. 4. 15. m Is. 9. 15. Jer. 23. 32. " Deut. 13. 1, 3, 5. 18. 20. Acts 4. 19. himself wiser than God, but, like a faithful careful messenger, hastens home when he has done his errand. They have little learned the lesson of self-denial, that cannot forbear one forbidden meal. V. 11-22. The man of God had honestly and bravely refused the king's invitation, though he promised him a reward; yet was over persuaded by an old prophet, to come back with him, and dine in Beth-el, contrary to the command given him. Here we find how dear his dinner cost him. Observe with wonder, I. The old prophet's wickedness. I cannot but call him a false prophet, and a bad man; it being much easier to believe that from one of such a bad character, should be extorted a confirmation of what the man of God said, (as we find, v. 32,) than that a true prophet, and a good man, should tell such a deliberate lie as he did, and father it upon God. A good tree could never bring forth such corrupt fruit. Perhaps, he was trained up, among the sons of the prophets, in one of Samuel's colleges not far off, whence he retained the name of a prophet, but, growing worldly and profane, the spirit of prophecy was departed from him. If he had been a good prophet, he would have reproved Jeroboam's idolatry, and not have suffered his sons to attend his altars, as, it should seem, they did. Now, 1. Whether he had any good design in fetching back the man of God, is not certain. One may hope that he did it, in compassion to him, concluding he wanted refreshment, and out of a desire to be better acquainted with him, and more fully to understand his errand than he could from the report of his sons; yet his sons having told him all that passed, and particularly that the prophet was forbidden to eat or drink there, which he had openly told Jeroboam, it is supposed to have been done with a bad design, to draw him into a snare, and so to expose him; for false prophets have ever been the worst enemies to the true prophets, usually aiming to destroy them, but sometimes, as here, to debauch them, and draw them from their duty. Thus they gave the Nazarites wine to drink, (Am. 2. 12,) that they might glory in their fall. But, 2. It is certain that he took a very bad method to bring him back. When the man of God had told him, "I may not, and therefore I will not, return to eat bread with thee," (his resolutions concurring with the divine command, v. 16, 17,) he wickedly pretended that he had an order from heaven to fetch him back; he imposed upon him his former character as a prophet, I am a prophet also as thou art; he pretended he had a vision of an angel that sent him on this errand; but it was all a lie, it was a banter upon prophecy, and profane in the highest degree. When this old prophet is spoken of, (2 Kings 23. 18,) he is called the prophet that came out of Samaria, whereas there was no such place as Samaria, till long after, (ch. 16. 24;) therefore I take it he is so called there, though he was of Beth-el, because he was like those who were afterward the prophets of Samaria, who caused God's people Israel to err, Jer. 23. 13. II. The good prophet's weakness, in suffering himself to be thus imposed upon; He went back with him, v. 19. He that had resolution enough to refuse the invitation of the king, who promised him a reward, could not resist the insinuations of one that pretended to be a prophet; good people are more in danger of being drawn from their duty by the plausible pretences of divinity and sanctity than by external inducements; we have therefore need to beware of false prophets, and not believe every spirit. III. The proceedings of divine justice, hereupon; and here we may well wonder that the wicked prophet, who told the lie, and did the mischief, went unpunished, while the holy man of God, that was drawn by him into sin, was suddenly and severely punished for it. What shall we make of this? The judgments of God are unfathomable: the deceived and the deceiver are his, and he giveth not account of any of his matters: certainly there from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee, 22 But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. 23 And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him; and his carcass was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcass. 25 And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcass cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcass and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. 26 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 o Num. 20. 12. 1 Sam. 13. 13, 14. 15. 23. p ver. 19. g ver. 9. rver. 30. c. 14. 13. 2 Chr. 21. 20. Is. 11. 18-20. Jer. 22. 18, 19. must be a judgment to come, when these things shall be called over again, and when those that sinned most, and suffered least, in this world, will receive according to their works. 1. The message delivered to the man of God was strange; his crime is recited; (v. 21, 22,) it was, in one word, disobedience to an express command; judgment is given upon it, Thy carcass shall not come to the sepulchre of thy fathers; that is, Thou shalt never reach thy own house, but shalt be a carcass quickly, nor shall thy dead body be brought to the place of thy fathers' sepulchres, to be interred." 2. Yet it was more strange that the old prophet himself should be the messenger: of this we can give no account, but that God would have it so, as he spake to Balaam by his ass, and read Saul his doom by the devil in Samuel's likeness; we may think God designed hereby, (1.) To startle the lying prophet, and make him sensible of his sin; the message could not but affect him the more, when he himself had the delivering of it, and had so strong an impression made upon his spirit by it, that he cried out, as one in an agony, v. 21. He had reason to think, if he must die for his disobedience in a small matter, who sinned by surprise, of how much sorer punishment he should be thought worthy, who had belied an angel of God, and cheated a man of God, by a deliberate forgery. If this were done to the green tree, what shall be done to the dry? Perhaps, it had a good effect upon him; those who preach God's wrath to others, have hard hearts indeed, if they fear it not themselves. (2.) To put the greater mortification upon the prophet that was deceived, and to show what they must expect, who hearken to the great deceiver; they that yield to him as a tempter, will be terrified by him as a tormentor; whom he now fawns upon, he will afterward fly upon, and whom he draws into sin, he will do what he can to drive to despair. V. 23-34. Here is, 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. 27 And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him. 28 And he went, and found his carcass cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcass: the lion had not eaten the carcass, nor tornt the ass. 29 And the prophet took up the carcass 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. 30 And he laid his carcass in his own grave, and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, "my brother! 31 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; 32 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. 8 c. 20. 36. Prov, 22, 13. 26. 13. broken. I ver. 9. ↑ broken. u Jer, 22. 18. v2 Kings 23. 16-19. to c. 16. 24. reformed by the withering of his hand: for he would be apt to make a bad use of it, and to say that the prophet was well enough served for meddling with his altar, he had better have stayed at home; nay, he would say that Providence had punished him for his insolence, and the lion had done that which his withered hand might not do; however, by this he intended to warn all those whom he employs, strictly to observe their orders, at their peril. II. The wonderful preservation of his dead body, which was a token of God's mercy remembered in the midst of wrath the lion that gently strangled him, or tore him, did not devour his dead body, nor so much as tear the ass, v. 24, 25, 28. Nay, what was more, he did not set upon the travellers that passed by, and saw it, nor upon the old prophet, (who had reason enough to fear it,) when he came to take up the corpse; his commission was, to kill the prophet, hitherto he should go, but no further: thus God showed that though he was angry with him, his anger was turned away, and the punishment went no further than death. III. The care which the old prophet took of his burial; when he heard of the unusual accident, he concluded it was the man of God, who was disobedient to his Master, (and whose fault was that?) therefore the Lord has delivered him to the lion, v. 26. It had well become him to have asked why the lion was not sent against him and his house, rather than against the good man whom he had cheated. He took up the carcass, v. 29. If there were any truth in the vulgar opinion, surely the corpse bled afresh, when he touched it, for he was, in effect, the murderer, and it was but a poor reparation for the injury, to inter the dead body: perhaps, when he cheated him into his ruin, he intended to laugh at him; yet now his conscience so far relents, that he weeps over him, and, like Joab at Abner's funeral, is compelled to be a mourner for him whom he had been the death of; they said, Alas, my brother! v. 30. The case was indeed very lamentable, that so good a man, a prophet so faithful, and so bold in God's cause, should, for one offence, die as a criminal, while an old lying prophet lives at ease, and an idolatrous prince in pomp and power. Thy way, O God, is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters. We cannot judge of men by their sufferings, nor of sins by their present punishments; with some, the flesh is destroyed, that the spirit may be saved, while, with others, the flesh is pampered, that the soul may ripen for hell. I. The death of the deceived disobedient prophet. The old prophet that had deluded him, as if he would make him some amends for the wrong he had done him, or help to prevent the mischief threatened him, furnished him with an ass to ride home on; but, by the way, a lion set upon him, and killed him, v. 23, 24. He did but turn back to refresh himself when he was hungry, and behold, he must die for it; see 1 Sam. 14. 43. But we must consider, 1. That his offence was great, and it would, by no means, justify him, that he was drawn into it by a lie; he could not be so certain of the countermand sent by another, as he was of the command given to himself; nor had he any IV. The charge which the old prophet gave his sons conground to think that the command would be recalled, when the cerning his own burial, that they should be sure to bury him in reason of it remained in force, which was, that he might tes- the same grave where the man of God was buried; (v. 31,) tify his detestation of the wickedness of that place. He had "Lay my bones beside his bones, close by them, as near as may great reason to suspect the honesty of this old prophet, who did be, so that my dust may mingle with his;" though he was a not himself bear his testimony, nor did God think fit to make lying prophet, yet he desired to die the death of a true prophet; use of him, as a witness against the idolatry of the city he lived "Gather not my soul with the sinners of Beth-el, but with the in; however, he should have taken time to beg direction from man of God." The reason he gives, is, because what he cried God, and not have complied so soon. Did he think this old against the altar of Beth-el, that men's bones should be burned prophet's house safer to eat in than other houses at Bethel, upon it, shall surely come to pass, v. 32. Thus, 1. He ratifies when God had forbidden him to eat in any? That was to refine the prediction, that out of the mouth of two witnesses, (and one upon the command, and make himself wiser than God. Did of them such a one as St. Paul quotes, Tit. 1. 12, one of themhe think to excuse himself, that he was hungry? Had he never selves, even a prophet of their own,) the word might be established, read, that man lives not by bread alone? 2. That his death if possible, to convince and reclaim Jeroboam. 2. He does was for the glory of God; for by this it appeared, (1.) That honour to the deceased prophet, as one whose word would not nothing is more provoking to him than disobedience to an fall to the ground, though he did; ministers die, die prematurely express command, though in a small matter, which makes his it may be; but the word of the Lord endures for ever, and does proceedings against our first parents, for eating forbidden fruit, not die with them. 3. He consults his own interest; it was the easier to be accounted for. (2.) That God is displeased foretold that men's bones should be burned upon Jeroboam's at the sins of his own people, and no man shall be protected in altar; "Lay mine" (says he) "close to his, and then they disobedience by the sanctity of his profession, the dignity of will not be disturbed;" and it was, accordingly, their secuhis office, his nearness to God, or any good services he has done rity, as we find, 2 Kings 23. 18. Sleeping and waking, living for him. Perhaps God, by this, intended, in a way of righ- and dying, it is safe being in good company. No mention is teous judgment, to harden Jeroboam's heart, since he was not made here of the inscription on the prophet's tomb; but it is 33 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. 34 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. CHAPTER XIV. The kingdom being divided into that of Judah and that of Israel, we must, henceforward, in these books of Kings, expect and attend their separate history, the succession of their kings, and the affairs of their kingdoms, accounted for distinctly. In this chapter, we have, I. The prophecy of the destruction of Jeroboam's house, v. 7-16. The sickness of his child was the occasion of it, (v. 16,) and the death of his child the earnest of it, (v. 17, 18;) together with the conclusion of his reign, v. 19, 2). II. The history of the declension and diminution of Rehoboam's house and his kingdom, (v. 21-24,) and the conclusion of his reign, v. 29-31. In both which, we may read the mischievous consequences of sin, and the calamities it brings on kingdoms and families. T that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell A sick. 2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray c. 12. 31, 32. 2 Chr. 11. 15. 13. 9. returned and made. y 2 Tim. 3. 13. ↑ Alled his hand. Judg. 17. 12. z c. 14. 10. Prov. 13. 6. a c. 11. 31. spoken of 2 Kings 23. 17, where Josiah asks, What title is that? And is told, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, that came from Judah, who proclaimed these things which thou hast done; so that the epitaph upon the prophet's grave preserved the remembrance of his prophecy, and was a standing testimony against the idolatries of Beth-el, which it would not have been, so remarkably, if he had died, and been buried elsewhere. The cities of Israel are here called cities of Samaria, though that name was not yet known; for, however the old prophet spake, the inspired historian wrote in the language of his own time. V. The obstinacy of Jeroboam in his idolatry; (v. 33,) He returned not from his evil way; some hand was found, that durst repair the altar God had rent, and then Jeroboam offered sacrifice on it again, and the more boldly, because the prophet who disturbed him before, was in his grave, (Rev. 11. 10,) and because the prophecy was for a great while to come. Various methods had been used to reclaim him, but neither threats nor signs, neither judgments nor mercies, wrought upon him, so strangely was he wedded to his calves; he did not reform, no not his priesthood, but whoever would, he filled his hand, and made him priest, though ever so illiterate or immoral, and of what tribe soever; and this became sin, that is, a snare first, and then a ruin, to Jeroboam's house, to cut it off, v. 34. Note, The diminution, disquiet, and desolation, of families, are the fruit of sin; he promised himself that the calves would secure the crown to his family, but it proved they lost it, and sunk his family. Those betray themselves, that think by any sin to support themselves. NOTES TO CHAPTER XIV. V. 1-6. How Jeroboam persisted in his contempt of God and religion, we read in the close of the foregoing chapter: here we are told how God proceeded in his controversy with him; for when God judges, he will overcome, and sinners shall either bend, or break, before him. 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. 3 And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him he shall tell thee what shall become of the child. 4 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.d 5 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. 6 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. b 1 Sam. 9. 7, 8. in thine hand. tor, cakes. I or, bottle. e c. 11. 29. § stood for his hoariness. d Ec. 12. 3. e Pa. 139. 1-4. hard. tended with him, had begged the prophet's prayers, and cast away his idols from him; then the child might have been restored to him, as his hand was; but most people would rather be told their fortune, than their faults or their duty. 2. That he might know the child's doom, he sent to Ahijah the prophet, who lived obsure and neglected in Shiloh, blind through age, yet still blessed with the visions of the Almighty, which need not bodily eyes, but are rather favoured by the want of them, the eyes of the mind being then most intent, and least diverted. Jeroboam sent not to him for advice about the setting up of his calves, or the consecrating of his priests, but has recourse to him in his distress, when the gods he served could give him no relief: Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, who before slighted thee; some have by sickness been reminded of their forgotten ministers, and praying friends: he sends to Ahijab, because he had told him he should be king, v. 2. He was once the messenger of good tidings, surely he will be so again; those that by sin disqualify themselves for comfort, and yet expect their ministers, because they are good men, should speak peace and comfort to them, greatly wrong both themselves and their ministers. 3. He sent his wife to inquire of the prophet, because she could best put the question without naming names, or making any other description than this, "Sir, I have a son ill; will he recover, or not?" The heart of her husband safely trusted in her, that she would be faithful both in delivering the message, and bringing him the answer; and it seems there were none of all his counsellors, in whom he could repose such a confidence; otherwise, the sick child could very ill have spared her, for mothers are the best nurses, and it had been much fitter for her to have stayed at home to tend him, than to go to Shiloh to inquire what would become of him. If she go, she must go incognito-must disguise herself, change her dress, cover her face, and go by another name; not only to conceal herself from her own court, and the country through which she passed, (as if it were below her quality to go upon such an errand, and what she had reason to be ashamed of, as Nicodemus that came to Jesus by night, whereas it is no disparagement to the greatest to attend God's prophets,) but also to conceal herself from the cerning her son, and not enter upon the unpleasing subject of her husband's defection; thus some people love to prescribe to their ministers, limit them to smooth things, and care not for having the whole counsel of God declared to them, lest it prove to prophesy no good concerning them, but evil. But what a strange notion had Jeroboam of God's prophet, that he believed he could and would certainly tell what would become of the child, and yet either could not, or would not, discover who was the mother; could he see into the thick darkness of futurity, and yet not see through the thin vail of this disguise? Did he think the God of Israel like his calves, just what he pleased? Be not deceived, God is not mocked. I. His child fell sick, v. 1. It is probable that he was his eldest son, and heir-apparent to the crown; for, at his death, all the kingdom went into mourning for him, v. 13. Neither his dignity as a prince, nor his age as a young prince, nor his interest in heaven as a pious prince, could exempt him from sick-prophet himself, that he might only answer her question conness, dangerous sickness; let none be secure of the continuance of their health, but improve it, while it continues, for the best purposes; Lord, behold he, whom thou lovest, thy favourite, he whom Israel loves, their darling, is sick. At that time, when Jeroboam prostituted and profaned the priesthood, (ch. 13. 33,) his child sickened; when sickness comes into our families, we should inquire whether there be not some particular sin harboured in our houses, which the affliction is sent to convince us of, and reclaim us from. II. He sent his wife in disguise, to inquire of Ahijah the prophet, what should become of the child, v. 2, 3. The sickness of his child touched him in a tender part; the withering of this branch of the family, would, perhaps, be as sore an affliction to him as the withering of that branch of his body, ch. 13. 4, such is the force of natural affection; our children are ourselves but once removed. Now, 1. Jeroboam's great desire, under this affliction, is, to know what shall become of the child, whether he will live or die. (1.) It had been more prudent, if he had desired to know what means they should use for the recovery of the child, what they should give him, and what they should do to him; but, by this instance, and that of Ahaziah, 2 Kings 1. 2, and Benhadad, 2 Kings 8. 8, it should seem, they had then such a foolish notion of fatality, as took them off from all use of means; for if they were sure the patient would live, they thought means needless; if he would die, they thought them useless; not considering that duty is ours, events are God's, and that he that ordained the end, ordained the means. Why should a prophet be desired to show that which a little time will show? (2.) It had been more pious, if he had desired to know wherefore God conVOL. I.-106 III. God gave Ahijah notice of the approach of Jeroboam's wife, and that she came in disguise, and full instructions what to say to her, (v. 5,) which enabled him, as she came in at the door, to call her by her name, to her great surprise, and so to discover to all about him who she was; (v. 6,) Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam: why feignest thou thyself to be another? He had no regard either, 1. To her rank; she was a queen, but what was that to him, who had a message to deliver her immediately from God, before whom all the children of men stand upon the same level? Nor, 2. To her present; it was usual for those who consulted prophets, to bring them tokens of respect, which they accepted, and yet were no hirelings; she brought him a handsome country present, (v. 3,) but he did not think himself obliged by that to give her any finer language than the nature of her message required. Nor, 3. To her industrious concealment of herself; it is a piece of civility not to take notice of those who desire not to be taken notice of; but the prophet was no courtier, nor gave flattering titles; plain ( 841 ) 7 Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the LORD God | house; and when thy feet enter into the city, the of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among child shall die.P the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel, 8 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; 9 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; 10 Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off "from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone. 11 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. 12 Arise thou, therefore, get thee to thine own fc. 16. 2. c. 11. 31-38. A c. 15. 5. i c. 12. 28. 2 Chr. 11. 15, Pa. 106. 29. 7 Neh. 9. 26. Ps. 50. 17. Ez. 23. 35. ma c. 15, 29. n Deut. 32. 36. 2 Kings 14. 26. o c. 16. 4. 21. 21. p ver. 17. Ez. 18. 14, &c. dealing is best, and she shall know at the first word, what she has to trust to; I am sent to thee with heavy tidings. Note, Those who think by their disguises to hide themselves from God, will be wretchedly confounded, when they find themselves disappointed in the day of discovery: sinners now appear in the garb of saints, and are taken to be such; but how will they blush and tremble, when they find themselves stripped of their false colours, and are called by their own name; "Go out, thou treacherous false-hearted hypocrite, I never knew thee, why feignest thou thyself to be another?" Tidings of a portion with hypocrites will be heavy tidings; God will judge men according to what they are, not according to what they seem. V. 7-20. When those that set up idols, and keep them up, go to inquire of the Lord, he determines to answer them, not according to the pretensions of their inquiry, but according to the multitude of their idols, (Ez. 14. 4;) so Jeroboam is answered here. He prevented her inquiry concerning the child, and foretels the ruin of Jeroboam's house for the wickedness of it; no one else durst have carried such a message, a servant would have smothered it, but his own wife cannot be suspected of ill will to him. I. God calls himself the Lord God of Israel; though Israel had forsaken God, God had not cast them off, nor given them a bill of divorce for their whoredoms; he is Israel's God, and therefore will take vengeance on him who did them the greatest mischief he could do them, and drew them away from him. II. He upbraids Jeroboam with the great favour he had bestowed upon him, in making him king, exalting him from among the people, the common people, to be prince over God's chosen Israel, and taking the kingdom from the house of David, to bestow it upon him. Whether we keep an account of God's mercies to us or no, he does, and will set even them in order before us, if we be ungrateful, to our greater confusion; otherwise, he gives, and upbraids not. III. He charges him with his impiety and apostacy, and his idolatry particularly; Thou hast done evil above all that were before thee, v. 9. Saul, that was rejected, never worshipped idols; Solomon did it but occasionally, in his dotage, and never made Israel to sin: Jeroboam's calves, though pretended to be set up in honour of the God of Israel, that brought them up out of Egypt, yet are here called other gods, or strange gods, because in them he worshipped God, as the heathen worshipped their strange gods; because by them he changed the truth of God into a lie, and represented him as altogether different from what he is; and because many of the ignorant worshippers terminated their devotion in the image, and did not at all regard the God of Israel. Though they were calves of gold, the richness of the metal was so far from making them acceptable to God, that they provoked him to anger; designedly affronted him, under colour of pleasing him. In doing this, 1. He had not set David before him; (v. 8,) Thou hast not been as my servant David; who, though he had his faults, and some bad ones, yet he never forsook the worship of God, nor grew loose or cold to that; his faithful adherence to that, gained him this honourable character, that he followed God with all his heart, and herein he was proposed for an example to all his successors; those did not do well, that did not like David. 2. He had not set God before him; but, (v. 9,) "Thou hast cast me behind thy back, my law, my fear; neglected me, forgotten me, and preferred thy policies before my precepts." IV. He foretels the utter ruin of Jeroboam's house, v. 10, 11. He thought, by his idolatry, to establish his government, and by that, he not only lost it, but brought destruction upon his family; the universal destruction of all the males, whether shut up or left, married or unmarried. 1. Shameful destruction; they shall be taken away as dung, which is loathsome, and which men are glad to be rid of. He worshipped dung 13 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. 14 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. 15 For the LORD shall smite Israel as a reed is shaken in the water, and the shall root "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. 16 And he shall give Israel up, because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin. 17 And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah; and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died. 18 And they buried him; and all Israel mourned T 2 Chr. 19. 3. 8 c. 15. 27-29. Dent. 28. 63, 66. Josh. 23. 15, 16. v2 Kings 15. 29. 17. 6. to Deut. 12. 3, 4. Is. 1. 28, 29. Ps. 81. 12. 30, 34. 16. 2. z c. 16. 6, 8, Ps. 52. 5. y c. 15. hill deities, and God removed his family as a great dunghill; noble royal families, if wicked, are no better, in God's account. 2. Unusual destruction; their very dead bodies should be meat for the dogs in the street, or the birds of prey in the field, v. 11. Thus evil pursues sinners. See this fulfilled, ch. 15. 29. V. He foretels the immediate death of the child that was now sick, v. 12, 13. 1. In mercy to him; lest, if he live, he be infected with the sin, and so involved in the ruin, of his father's house. Observe the character given of him, In him was found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. He only had an affection for the true worship of God, and disliked the worship of the calves. Note, (1.) Those are good, in whom are good things toward the Lord God of Israel; good inclinations, good intentions, good desires, toward him. (2.) Where there is but some good thing of that kind, it will be found: God that seeks it, sees it, be it ever so little, and is pleased with it. (3.) A little grace goes a great way with great people. It is so rare to find princes well affected to religion, that, when they are so, they are worthy of double honour. (4.) Pious dispositions are, in a peculiar manner, amiable and acceptable, when they are found in those that are young. The divine image, in miniature, has a peculiar beauty and lustre in it. (5.) Those that are good in bad times and places, shine very bright in the eyes of God. A good child in the house of Jeroboam, is a miracle of divine grace: to be there untainted, is like being in the fiery furnace unhurt, unsinged. Observe the care taken of him: he only, of all Jeroboam's family, shall die in honour; shall be buried, and shall be lamented, as one that lived desired. Note, Those that are distinguished by divine grace, shall be distinguished by divine providence. This hopeful child dies first of all the family, for God often takes them soonest, whom he loves best; heaven is the fittest place for them, this earth is not worthy of them. 2. In wrath to the family; it was a sign the family would be ruined, when he was taken, by whom it might have been reformed. The righteous are removed from the evil to come in this world, to the good to come in a better world. It is a bad omen to a family, when the best in it are buried out of it; when what was valuable, is picked out, the rest is for the fire. It is likewise a present affliction to the family and kingdom, by which both ought to have been bettered. It aggravated it to the poor mother, that she should not reach home time enough to see her son alive. When thy feet enter into the city, just then the child shall die. This was to be a sign to her of the accomplishment of the rest of the threatenings, as 1 Sam. 2. 34. VI. He foretels the setting up of another family to rule over Israel, v. 14. This was fulfilled in Baasha of Issachar, who conspired against Nadab the son of Jeroboam, in the second year of his reign, murdered him, and all his family. "But what? Even now. Why do I speak of it as a thing at a distance? It is at the door; it shall be done, even now." Sometimes God makes quick work with sinners, he did so with the house of Jeroboam. It was not twenty-four years from his first elevation to the final extirpation of his family. VII. He foretels the judgments which should come upon the people of Israel, for conforming to the worship which Jeroboam had established. If the blind lead the blind, both the blind leaders and the blind followers shall fall into the ditch. It is here foretold, (v. 15,) 1. That they should never be easy, nor rightly settled in their land, but continually shaken like a reed in the water. After they left the house of David, the government never continued long in one family, but one undermined and destroyed another, which must needs occasion great disorders and disturbances among the people. 2. That they should, ere long, be totally expelled out of their land, that for him, according to the word of the LORD, which | Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up he spake by the hand of his servant Ahíjah the against Jerusalem: prophet. 19 And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. 20 And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead. 21 And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city dwhich the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. 22 And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done: 23 For they also built them high places and timages and groves, on every high hill, and "under every green tree. 24 And there were also Sodomites in the land; and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. 26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house: he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made." 27 And king Rehoboam made in their stead brazen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king's house. 28 And it was so, when the king went into the house of the LORD, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard-chamber. 29 Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 30 And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. 31 And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. And Abijam" his son reigned in his stead. CHAPTER XV. In this chapter, we have an abstract of the history, I. Of two of the kings of Judah, Abijam, the days of whose reign were few and evil, (v. 1-8,) and Asa, who reigned well and long, v. 9-24. II. Of two of the kings of Israel, Nadab the son of Jeroboam, and Baasha the destroyer of Jeroboam's house, v. 25-34. 25 And it came to pass, in the fifth year of king NOW, in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam a ver. 12, 13. 62 Chr. 13. 2, &c. ⚫ lay down. c 2 Chr. 12. 13. d c. 11. 36. e Deut. 32. 21. Ps. 78. 58. 1 Cor. 10. 22. Jeroboam's wife has nothing to say against the word of the Lord, but she goes home with a heavy heart to their house in Tirzah, a sweet delightful place, so the name signifies, famed for its beauty, Cant. 6. 4. But death cannot be shut out from it, which will stain its beauty, and imbitter all its delights. Hither she came, and here we leave her attending the funeral of her son, and expecting the fate of her family. (1.) The child died, (v. 17;) and justly did all Israel mourn, not only for the loss of so hopeful a prince, whom they were not worthy of, but because his death plucked up the floodgates, and made a breach, at which an inundation of judgments broke in. (2.) Jeroboam himself died soon after, v. 20. It is said, (2 Chr. 13. 20,) The Lord struck him with some sore disease, so that he died miserably, when he had reigned twentytwo years; and left his crown to a son, who lost it, and his life too, and all the lives of his family, within two years after. For a further account of him, the reader is referred to the annals of his reign, drawn up by his own secretaries, or to the public records, like those in the Tower, called here, The book, or register, of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel, to which recourse might be had; but, not being divinely inspired, they are long since lost. V. 21-31. Judah's story and Israel's are intermixed in this book. Jeroboam outlived Rehoboam four or five years, yet his history is despatched first, that the account of Rehoboam's reign may be laid together; and a sad account it is. I. Here is no good said of the king. All the account we have of him here, is, 1. That he was 41 years old, when he began to reign, by which reckoning, he was born in the last year of David, and had his education, and the forming of his mind, in the best days of Solomon: yet he lived not up to it. Solomon's defection, at last, did more to corrupt him, than his wisdom and devotion had done to give him good principles. 2. That he reigned 17 years in Jerusalem, the city where God put his name, where he had opportunity enough to know his duty, if he had had but a heart to do it. 3. That his mother was Naamah, an Ammonitess; this is twice mentioned, v. 21, 31. It was strange that David would marry his son Solomon to an Ammonitess, (for it was done while he lived,) but, it is probable, Solomon was in love with her, because she was Naamah, a beauty, so it signifies, and his father was loath to cross him, but it proved to have a very bad influence upon posterity. Probably, she was daughter to Shobi the Ammonite, who was kind to David, (2 Sam. 17. 27,) and David was too willing to requite him by matching his son into his family. None can imagine how lasting and how fatal the consequences may be, of being unequally yoked with unbelievers. 4. That he had continual war with Jeroboam, (v. 30,) which could not but be a perpetual uneasiness to him. 5. That when he had reigned but 17 years, he died, and left his throne to his son. His father, and grand the son of Nebat, reigned Abijam over Judah. i Deut. 23. 17. 2 Kings 23. 7. k 2 Chr. 12. 2, & c. m c. 12. 24. 15. 6. n 2 Chr. 12. 16, Abijah. Matt. hls. 57. 5. Jer. 3. 13. father, and grandson, that reigned well, reigned long, 40 years It is a most 1. See here how wicked and profane they were. sad account that is here given of their apostacy from God, v. 22-24. Judah, the only professing people God had in the world, did evil in his sight, in contempt and defiance of him, and the tokens of his special presence with them; they provoked him to jealousy, as the adulterous wife provokes her husband, by breaking the marriage-covenant. Their fathers had been bad enough, especially in the times of the judges, but they did abominable things, above all that their fathers had done. The magnificence of their temple, the pomp of their priesthood, and all the secular advantages with which their religion was attended, could not prevail to keep them close to it; nothing less than the pouring out of the Spirit from on high, will keep God's Israel in their allegiance to him. The account here given of the wickedness of the Jews, agrees with that which the apostle gives of the wickedness of the Gentile world, (Rom. 1. 21, 24;) so that both Jew and Gentile are all alike under sin, Rom. 3. 9. (1.) They became vain in their imaginations concerning God, and changed his glory into an image, for they built them high places, images, and groves, (v. 23,) profaning God's name, by affixing to it their images, and God's ordinances, by serving their idols with them. They foolishly fancied that they exalted God, when they worshipped him on high hills, and pleased him, when they worshipped him under the pleasant shadow of green trees. (2.) They were given up to vile affections, (as those idolaters, Rom. 1. 26, 27,) for there were Sodomites in the land, (v. 24;) men with men working that which is unseemly, and not to be thought of, much less mentioned, without abhorrence and indignation. They dishonoured God by one sin, and then God left them to dishonour themselves by another. They profaned the privileges. of a holy nation, therefore God gave them up to their own hearts' lusts, to imitate the abominations of the accursed Canaanites; and herein the Lord was righteous. And when they did like them that were cast out, how could they expect any other than to be cast out like them? 2. See here how weak and poor they were; and this was the consequence of the former. Sin exposes, impoverishes, and weakens any people. Shishak, king of Egypt, came against them, and so far, either by force or surrender, made himself master of Jerusalem itself, that he took away the treasures both of the temple and of the exchequer, of the house of the Lord, and of the king's house, which David and Solomon had amassed, v. 25, 26. These, it is likely, tempted him to make this descent; and, to save the rest, Rehoboam perhaps tamely surrendered them, as Ahab, ch. 20. 24. He also took away the golden shields, that were made but in his father's time, (v. 26;) these the king of Egypt carried off as trophies of his victory; and, instead of them, Rehoboam made brazen shields, which the lifeguard carried before him, when he went to church in state, v. 27, 28. This was an emblem of the diminution of his glory. Sin makes the gold become dim, changes the most fine gold, and turns it into brass. We commend Rehoboam for going to the house of the Lord, perhaps the oftener for the rebuke he had been under, and do not condemn him for going in pomp. Great men should honour God with their honour, and then they are themselves most honoured by it. |