Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

3 Look even out the best and meetest of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.

4 But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, two kings stood not before him: how then shall we stand?

10 Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spake concerning the house of Ahab: for the LORD hath done that which he spake by his servant Elijah.

11 So Jehu slew all that remained of the house 5 And he that was over the house, and he that of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his was over the city, the elders, also, and the bringers-kinsfolk,* and his priests, until he left him none up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are remaining. thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king: do thou that which is good in thine eyes.

6 Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be mine, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men, your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to morrow this time. (Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up.)

7 And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slew "seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jezreel.

8 And there came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning.

9 And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye be righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these?

a c. 9. 24, 27. 1 Kings 20. 4, 32. e for me. d 1 Kings 21. 21. &c. f Matt. 14. 8, 11. gc. 9. 14, 24. A 1 Sam. 3. 19. i1 Kings 21. 19, c. by the hand of. †or, acquaintance. Prov. 13. 20.

e Judg. 9. 5, Jer. 44, 28, 29. k Pa. 125. 5.

sels. "Do if you dare, and see what will come of it." Those that have forsaken their religion, have often, with it, lost both their sense and their courage, and deserve to be upbraided with it.

12 And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing-house in the way, 13 Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah: and we go down to salute the children of the king, and the children of the queen.

14 And he said, Take them alive." And they "took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing-house, even two and forty men: neither left he any of them.

15 And when he was departed thence, he lighted "on Jehonadab the son of Rechab, coming to meet him: and he **saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand. And he gave him his hand: and he took him up to him into the chariot.

16 And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD. So they made him ride in his cha

riot.

1 Kings 14. 10. house of shepherds binding sheep. found. the peare of m 1 Kings 20. 18. n 2 Chr. 22.8. found o Jer. 35. 6, &c. p 1 Chr. 2. 55. blessed. 9 Ezra 10. 19. r 1 Kings 19. 10. Prov. 27. 2. Ez. 33. 31. Matt. 6.2, 5.

But, (2.) He resolves all into the righteous judgment of God; (v. 10,) The Lord hath done that which he spake by Elijah. God is not the Author of any man's sin, but even by that which men do from bad principles, God serves his own purposes, and glorifies his own name; and is righteous in that wherein men are unrighteous. When the Assyrian is made the rod of God's anger, and the instrument of his justice, he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so, Is. 10. 7.

II. He proceeded to destroy all that remained of the house of Ahab, not only those that descended from him, but those that were in any relation to him, all the officers of his household, ministers of state, and those in command under him, called here his great men, v. 11, all his kinsfolk and acquaintance, who had been partners with him in his wickedness, and his priests, or domestic chaplains, whom he employed in his idolatrous services, and who strengthened his hand, that he should not turn from his evil way. Having done this in Jezreel, he did the same in Samaria, (v. 17,) slew all that remained to Ahab in Samaria. This was bloody work, and is not now, in any case, to be drawn into a precedent. Let the guilty suffer, but not the guiltless for their sakes. Perhaps such terrible destructions as these, were intended as types of the final destruction of all the ungodly. God has a sword, bathed in heaven, which will come down upon the people of his curse, and be filled with blood, Is. 34, 5, 6. Then his eye will not spare, neither will he pity.

2. Hereby he gained from them a submission. They prudently reasoned with themselves, Behold, two kings stood not before him, but fell as sacrifices to his rage; how then shall we stand? v. 4. Therefore they sent him a surrender of themselves, "We are thy servants, thy subjects, and will do all that thou shalt bid us, right or wrong, and will set up nobody in competition with thee." They saw it was to no purpose to contend with him, and therefore it was their interest to submit to him. With much more reason may we thus argue ourselves into a subjection to the great God. Many kings and great men have fallen before his wrath, for their wickedness; and how then shall we stand? Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? No, we must either bend or break. 3. This is improved so far as to make them the executioners of those whom they had the tuition of: (v. 6,) If ye be mine, bring me the heads of your master's sons by to-morrow at this time. Though he knew it must be done, and was loath to do it himself, one would think he could not expect they should do it. Could they betray such a trust? Could they be cruel to their master's sons? It seems, so low did they stoop in their adoration of the rising sun, that they did it; they cut off the heads of those 70 princes, and sent them in baskets a present III. Providence bringing the brethren of Ahaziah in his way, to Jehu, v. 7. Learn hence not to trust in a friend, nor to put as he was going on with this execution, he slew them likewise, confidence in a guide, not governed by conscience. One can v. 12-14. The brethren of Ahaziah were slain by the Arascarcely expect that he who has been false to his God, should bians, (2 Chr. 22. 1,) but these were the sons of his brethren, ever be faithful to his prince. But observe God's righteousness as it is there explained, (v. 8;) and they are said to be princes in their unrighteousness. These elders of Jezreel had been of Judah, and to minister to Ahaziah. Several things conwickedly obsequious to Jezebel's order for the murder of Na-curred to make them obnoxious to the vengeance Jehu was now both, 1 Kings 21. 11. She gloried, it is likely, in the power executing. 1. They were branches of Ahab's house, being she had over them; and now the same base spirit makes them descended from Athaliah, and therefore fell within his comas pliable to Jehu, and as ready to obey his orders for the mur- mission. 2. They were tainted with the wickedness of the der of Ahab's sons. Let none aim at an arbitrary power, lest house of Ahab. 3. They were now going to make their court they be found rolling a stone which, some time or other, will to the princes of the house of Ahab, to salute the children of the return upon them. Princes that make their people slaves, king and the queen, Joram and Jezebel, which showed they take the readiest way to make them rebels; and, by forcing were linked to them in affection as well as in affinity. These men's consciences, as Jezebel did, they lose their hold of princes, forty-two in number, being appointed as sheep for the sacrifice, were slain with solemnity, at the pit of the shearing-house. The Lord is known by these judgments which

them.

When the separated heads were presented to him, he slyly upbraided them that were the executioners, yet owned the hand of God in it. (1.) He seems to blame those that had been the executioners of this vengeance. The heads were laid in two heaps, at the gate, the proper place of judgment. There he acquitted the people before God and the world, (v. 9, Ye be righteous,) and by what the rulers of Samaria had now done, comparatively acquitted himself: "I slew but one, they have slain all these: I did it by conspiracy, and with design; they have done this merely in compliance, and with an implicit obedience. Let not the people of Samaria, nor any of the friends of the house of Ahab, ever reproach me for what I have done, when their own elders, and the very guardians of the orphans, have done this." It is common for those who have done something too bad, to endeavour the mitigation of their own reproach, by drawing others in to do something worse.

he executeth.

V. 15-28. Jehu, pushing on his work, is here,

I. Courting the friendship of a good man, Jehonadab the son of Rechab, v. 15, 16. This Jehonadab, though mortified to the world, and meddling lit le with the business of it, (as appears by his charge to his posterity, which they religiously observed 300 years after, not to drink wine, nor dwell in cities, Jer. 35. 6, &c.) yet, upon this occasion, went to meet Jehu, that he might encourage him in the work to which God had called him. The countenance of good men is a thing which great men, if they be wise, will value, and value themselves by. David prayed, Let those that fear thee, turn unto me, Ps. 119. 79. This Jehonadab, though no prophet, priest, or Levite, no prince or ruler, was, we may suppose, very eminent for prudence and piety, and generally respected for that life of self-denial and devotion which he

17 And when he came to Samaria, he slew all 'that remained unto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the LORD, which he spake 'to Elijah.

18 And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab "served Baal a little, but Jehu shall serve him much.

19 Now therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal: whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtlety," to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.

20 And Jehu said, "Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it.

21 And Jehu sent through all Israel; and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not: and they came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to another.

23 Ana Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal, and said unto the worshippers of Baal, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of the LORD, but the worshippers of Baal only.

24 And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings, Jehu appointed fourscore men without, and said, If any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, he that letteth him go, his life shall be for the life of him.

25 And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt-offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal.

26 And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them.

27 And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made it a

22 And he said unto him that was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worship-draught-house unto this day. pers of Baal. And he brought them forth vest

ments.

1 Kings 16. 31, 32.
1 Kings 16, 32.

v1 Kings 22. 6. w Job 13. tor, so full, that they stood

c. 9. 8, 1 Kings 21. 21. 7. Prov. 29. 5. Sanctify. mouth to mouth. y ver. 15. lived: Jehu, though a soldier, knew him, and honoured him. He did not indeed think of sending for him, but when he met him, (though, it is likely he drove now as furiously as ever,) he stopped to speak to him; and we are here told what passed between them.

1. Jehu saluted him; he blessed him, so the word is; paid him the respect, and showed him the good will, that were owing to so great an example of serious godliness.

2. Jehonadab assured him that he was sincere in his interest, and a hearty well wisher to his cause. Jehu professed that his heart was right with him; that he had a true affection for his person, and a veneration for the crown of his Nazariteship, and desired to know whether he had the same affection for him, and satisfaction in that crown of royal dignity which God had put upon his head, Is thine heart right? A question we should often put to ourselves: "I make a plausible profession, have gained a reputation among men, but is my heart right? Am I sincere and inward with God?" Jehonadab gave him his word, It is, and gave him his hand as a pledge of his heart, yielded to him, (so giving the hand is rendered, 2 Chr. 30. 8,) concurred and covenanted with him, and owned him in the work both of revenge and of reformation he was now about.

[ocr errors]

3. Jehu took him up into his chariot, and took him along with him to Samaria. He put some honour upon him, by taking him into the chariot with him; (Jehonadab was not often in a chariot, especially with a king;) but he received more honour from him, and from the countenance he gave to his present work. All sober people would think the better of Jehu, when they saw Jehonadab in the chariot with him. This was not the only time that the piety of some has been made to serve the policy of others; and that designing men have strengthened themselves by drawing good men into their interest. Jehonadab was a stranger to the arts of fleshly wisdom, and has his conversation in simplicity, and godly sincerity; and therefore, if Jehu be a servant of God, and an enemy to Baal, he will be his faithful friend. "Come then," (says Jehu,) come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord; and then thou wilt see reason to espouse my cause.' This is commonly taken as not well said by Jehu, and as giving cause to suspect that his heart was not right with God in what he did, and that the zeal he pretended for the Lord, was really zeal for himself and his own advancement. For, (1.) He boasted of it, and spake as if God and man were mightily indebted to him for it. (2.) He desired it might be seen, and taken notice of, like the Pharisees, who did all to be seen of men. An upright heart approves itself to God, and covets no more than his acceptance. If we aim at the applause of men, and make their praise our highest end, we are upon a false bottom. Whether Jehu looked any further, we cannot judge; however, Jehonadab went with him, and, it is likely, animated and assisted him in the further execution of his commission, (v. 17,) destroying all Ahab's friends in Samaria. A man may hate cruelty, and yet love justice; may be far from thirsting after blood, and yet may wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, Ps. 58. 10.

28 Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.
29 Howbeit, from the sins of Jeroboam the son

Matt. 13. 30, 41. 25. 32, 33. a 1 Kings 20. 39. b Ex. 32. 27. Deut. 13. 6-11. Ez. 9.5-7. t mouth. Satatues. c 1 Kings 14. 23. d 2 Sam, 5. 21. 1 Kings 15. 13. e Ezra 6. 11. Dan. 2. 5. 3, 29.

ple of Baal. He pretended he would worship Baal more than
ever Ahab had done, v. 18. Perhaps he spoke this ironically,
or to try the body of the people, whether they would oppose
such a resolution as this, and would resent his threatening to
increase his predecessor's idolatries, as they did Rehoboam's
threatening to increase his predecessor's exactions, and say,
"If it be so, we have no part in Jehu, nor inheritance in the
son of Nimshi." But it rather seems to have been spoken pur-
posely to deceive the worshippers of Baal, and then it cannot
be justified. The truth of God needs not any man's lie. He
issued out a proclamation, requiring the attendance of all the
worshippers of Baal, to join with him in a sacrifice to Baal,
(v. 19, 20;) not only the prophets and priests, but all, through-
out the kingdom, who worshipped Baal, who were not near so
many as they had been in Elijah's time. Jehu's friends, we
may suppose, were aware of what he designed, and were not
offended at it; but the bigoted besotted Baalites began to think
themselves very happy, and that now they should see golden
days again. Joram had put away the image of Baal, (ch. 3.
2 ;) if Jehu will restore it, they have what they would have, and
come up to Samaria with joy from all parts to celebrate the
solemnity, and were pleased to see the house of Baal crowded,
(v. 21,) to see his priests in their vestments, (v. 22,) and them-
selves perhaps with some badges or other to notify their rela-
tion to Baal, for there were vestments for all his worshippers.

2. He takes care that none of the servants of the Lord should be among them, v. 23. This they took as a provision to preserve the worship of Baal from being profaned by strangers: but it was a wonder, that they did not, by this, see themselves brought into a snare, and discern a design upon them. They that suffer themselves to be deceived by Baal, (as all idolaters were by their idols,) no marvel if they are deceived by Jehu to their destruction.

3. He gives order for the cutting of them all off, and Jehonadab joined with him therein, v. 23. When a strict search was made, lest some of the servants of God should, either for company or curiosity, be got among them, lest some wheat should be mixed with those tares; and when 80 men were set to stand guard at all the avenues to Baal's temple, that none might escape, (v. 24,) then the guards were sent in, to put them all to the sword, and to mingle their blood with their sacrifices, in way of just revenge, as they themselves had sometimes done, when, in their blind devotion, they cut themselves with knives and lancets till the blood gushed out, 1 Kings 18. 28. This was accordingly done, and the doing of it, though seemingly barbarons, was, considering the nature of their crime, really righteous; The Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God.

4. The idolaters being thus destroyed, the idolatry itself is utterly abolished. The buildings about the house of Baal, (which were so many, and so stately, that they are here called a city,) where Baal's priests and their families lived, were destroyed: all the little images, statues, pictures, or shrines, which beautified Baal's temple, with the great image of Baal himself, were brought out and burned. (v. 26, 27,) and the temple of Baal broken down, and made a dunghill, the common sink, or sewer of the city, that the remembrance of it might be blotted destroyed, at least, for the present, out of Israel, though it had once prevailed so far, that there were but 7000 of all the thousands of Israel, that had not bowed the knee to Baal, and those concealed. Thus will God destroy all the gods of the heathen, and, sooner or later, triumph over them all.

II. Contriving the destruction of all the worshippers of Baal. The service of Baal was the crying sin of the house of Ahab; that root of this idolatry was plucked up, but multitudes yet re-out, or made infamous. Thus was the worship of Baal quite mained, that were infected with it, and would be in danger of infecting others. The law of God was express, that they were to be put to death; but they were so numerous, and so dispersed throughout all parts of the kingdom, and perhaps so alarmed with Jehu's beginnings, that it would be a hard matter to find them all out, and an endless task to prosecute and execute them one by one: Jehu's project therefore is to cut them all off together.

1. By a wile, by a fraud, he brings them together to the tem

V. 29-36. Here is all the account of the reign of Jehu, though it continued 28 years. The progress of it answered not to the glory of its beginning. We have here,

I. God's approbation of what Jehu had done. Many, it is

of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Beth-el, and that were in Dan.

30 And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.

31 But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin.

32 In those days the LORD began to cut Israel short and Hazael smote them in all the coast of Israel;

33 From Jordan Feastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, (which is by the river Arnon,) Seven Gilead and Bashan.

34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

f1 Kings 12. 23, 29. g Ez. 29. 18-20. ver. 35. c. 13. 1, 10. 14. 23. 15. 8-12. observed not. John 4. 24. k 1 Kings 14. 16. t to cut off the ends. 1 c. 8.

12.

probable, censured him as treacherous and barbarous, called him a rebel, a usurper, a murderer, and prognosticated ill concerning him, that a family thus raised would soon be ruined; but God said, Well done, (v. 30,) and then it signified little who said otherwise. 1. God pronounced that to be right, which he had done. It is justly questionable, whether he did it from a good principle, and whether he did not take some false steps in the doing of it; and yet, (says God,) Thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes. The extirpating of idolaters and idolatry, was a thing right in God's eyes, for it is an iniquity he visits as surely and severely as any other; it was according to all that was in his heart, all he desired, all he designed; Jehu went through with his work. 2. God promised hin a reward, That his children of the fourth generation from him should sit upon the throne of Israel. This was more than what took place in any of the dignities or royal families of that kingdom; of the house of Ahab there were indeed four kings, Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah, and Joram, but the two last were brothers, so that it reached but to the third generation, and that whole family continued but about 45 years in all, whereas Jehu's continued in four, beside himself, and, in all, about 120years. Note, No services done for God shall go unrewarded. II. Jehu's carelessness in what he was further to do. By this it appeared that his heart was not right with God, that he was partial in his reformation. 1. He did not put away all the evil. He departed from the sins of Ahab, but not from the sins of Jeroboam; discarded Baal, but adhered to the calves. The worship of Baal was indeed the greater evil, and more heinous in the sight of God, but the worship of the calves was a great evil: true conversion is not only from gross sin, but from all sin; not only from false gods, but from false worships. The worship of Baal weakened and diminished Israel, and made them beholden to the Sidonians, and therefore he could easily part with that: but the worship of the calves was a political idolatry, was begun, and kept up, for reasons of state, to prevent the return of the ten tribes to the house of David, and therefore Jehu clave to that. True conversion is not only from wasteful sins, but from gainful sins; not only from those sins that are destructive to the secular interest, but from those that support and befriend it; in forsaking which, is the great trial, whether we can deny ourselves, and trust God. 2. He put away evil, but he did not mind that which was good; (v. 31,) He took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel. He abolished the worship of Baal, but did not keep up the worship of God, nor walk in his law. He had showed great care and zeal for the rooting ont of a false religion, but, in the true religion, (1.) He showed no care, took no heed, lived at large, was not at all solicitous to please God, and do his duty; took no heed to the scriptures, to the prophets, to his own conscience, but walked at all adventures. Those that are heedless, it is to be feared, are graceless; for where there is a good principle in the heart, it will make men cautious and circumspect, desirous to please God, and jealous of doing any thing to offend him. (2.) He showed no zeal; what he did in religion, he did not do it with his heart, with all his heart, but did it as if he did it not, without any liveliness or concern. It seems he was a man that had little religion himself, and yet God made use of him as an instrument of reformation in Israel. It is a pity but that those that do good to others, should always be good themselves.

III. The judgment that came upon Israel in his reign. We have reason to fear that when Jehu took no heed himself to walk in God's law, the people were generally as careless as he, both in their devotions, and in their conversations. There was a general decay of piety, and increase of profaneness; and therefore it is not strange that the next news we hear, is, In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short, v. 32. Their neighbours encroached upon them on every side; they were

35 And Jehu slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead.

36 And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty and eight years.

CHAPTER XI.

The revolution in the kingdom of Israel was soon perfected in Jehu's settlement; we must now inquire into the affairs of the kingdom of Judah, which lost its head, (such as it was,) at the same time, and by the same hand, as Israel did; but things continued onger there in distraction than in Israel, yet, after some years, they were brought into a good posture, as we find in this chapter. 1. Athaliah usurps the government, and destroys all the seed royal, v. 1. II. Joash, a child of a year old, is wonderfully preserved, v. 2, 3. III. At six years' end, he is produced, and, by the agency of Jehoiada, made king, v. 412. IV. Athaliah is slain, v 13-16. V. Both the civil and religious interests of the kingdom are well settled in the hands of Joash, v. 17-21. nd thus, after some interruption, things returned with advantage into the old channel.

AND when Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she arose, and destroyed all the seed royal.

2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his

t toward the rising of the sun. or, even to Gilead and Bashan. m Am. 1. 3. the daye were. a Chr. 22. 10. b c. 8. 26. seed of the kingdom. 12 Chr. 22. 11, Jehoshbeath. or, Jehoash.

short in their duty to God, and therefore God cut them short in their extent, wealth, and power. Hazael king of Syria was, above any other, vexatious and mischievous to them, smote them in all the coasts of Israel, particularly the countries on the other side Jordan, which lay next him, and most exposed; on these he made continual inroads, and laid them waste. Now the Reubenites and Gadites smarted for the choice which their ancestors made of an inheritance on that side Jordan, which Moses reproved them for, Num. 32. Now Hazael did what Elisha foresaw he would do, and foretold. Yet, for doing it, God had a quarrel with him, and with his kingdom, as we may find, Am. 1. 3, 4. Because they of Damascus have thrashed Gilead with thrashing instruments of iron, therefore (says God) I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.

Lastly, The conclusion of Jehu's reign, v. 34-36. Notice is taken, in general, of his might; but because he took no heed to serve God, the memorials of his mighty enterprises and achievements are justly buried in oblivion.

NOTES TO CHAPTER XI.

V. 1-3. God had assured David of the continuance of his family, which is called his ordaining a lamp for his anointed; and this cannot but appear a great thing, now that we have read of the utter extirpation of so many royal families, one after another. Now here we have David's promised lamp almost extinguished, and yet wonderfully preserved.

I. It was almost extinguished by the harbarous malice of Athaliah, the queen mother, who, when she heard that her son Ahaziah was slain by Jehu, arose, and destroyed all the seed royal, (v. 1,) all that she knew to be akin to the crown. Her husband Jehoram had slain all his brethren the sons of Jehoshaphat, 2 Chr. 21. 4. The Arabians had slain all Jehoram's sons, but Ahaziah, 2 Chr. 22. 1. Jehu had slain all their sons, (2 Chr. 22. 8,) and Ahaziah himself. Surely never was royal blood so profusely shed: happy the men of inferior birth, who live below envy and emulation! But, as if all this were but a small matter, Athaliah destroys all that were left of the seed royal: it was strange that one of the tender sex could be so barbarous, that one who had been herself a king's daughter, a king's wife, and a king's mother, could be so barbarous to a royal family, and a family into which she was herself ingrafted; but she did it, 1. From a spirit of ambition; she thirsted after rule, and thought she could not get to it any other way; that none might reign with her, she slew even the infants and sucklings that might have reigned after her; for fear of a competitor, not any must be reserved for a successor; and, 2. From a spirit of revenge and rage against God; the house of Ahab being utterly destroyed, and her son Ahaziah among the rest, because he was akin to it; she resolved, as it were, by way of reprisal, to destroy the house of David, and cut off his line, in defiance of God's promise to perpetuate it: a foolish attempt, and fruitless, for who can disannul what God hath purposed? Grandmothers have been thought more fond of their grandchildern than they were of their own; yet Ahaziah's own mother is the wilful murderer of Ahaziah's own sons, and in their infancy too, when she was obliged, above any other, to nurse them, and take care of them: well might she be called, Athaliah, that wicked woman, (2 Chr. 24. 7,) Jezebel's own daughter yet herein God was righteous, and visited the iniquity of Joram and Ahaziah, those degenerate branches of David's house, upon their children.

II. It was wonderfully preserved by the pious care of one of Joram's daughters, (who was wife to Jehoiada the priest,) who stole away one of the king's sons, Joash by name, and hid him, v. 2, 3. This was a brand plucked out of the fire; what number were slain, we are not told, but, it seems, this, being a child in

nurse, in the bed-chamber from Athaliah, so that he | sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the was not slain. house of the LORD about the king.

3 And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years. And Athaliah did reign over the

land.

4 And the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the rulers over hundreds, with the captains, and the guard, and brought them to him into the house of the LORD, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of the LORD, and showed them the king's son.

5 And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that ye shall do: A third part of you that enter in on the sabbath shall even be keepers of the watch of the king's house:

6 And a third part shall be at the gate of Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the guard: so shall ye keep the watch of the house, *that it be not broken down.

7 And two parts of all you that go forth on the

e 2 Chr. 23. 1, &c. d c. 16. 18. or, from breaking up. ↑ bands, or companies. the nurse's arms, was not missed, or not inquired after, or, however, not found: the person that delivered him, was his own aunt, the daughter of wicked Joram; for those whom God will have protected, he will raise up protectors; the place of his safety was the house of the Lord, one of the chambers belonging to the temple, a place Athaliah seldom troubled; his aunt, by bringing him hither, put him under God's special protection, and so hid him by faith, as Moses was hid; now were David's words made good to one of his seed, (Ps. 27. 5,) In the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me. With good reason did this Joash, when he grew up, set himself to repair the house of the Lord, for it had been a sanctuary to him; now was the promise made to David bound up in one life, and yet it did not fail. Thus to the Son of David will God, according to his promise, secure a spiritual seed, which, though sometimes reduced to a small number, brought very low, and seemingly lost, will be perpetuated to the end of time, hidden sometimes, and unseen, but hidden in God's pavilion, and unhurt. It was a special providence that Joram, though a king, a wicked king, married his daughter to Jehoiada a priest, a godly priest: some perhaps thought it a disparagement to the royal family, to marry a daughter to a clergyman, but it proved a happy marriage, and the saving of the royal family from ruin; for Jehoiada's interest in the temple gave her an opportunity to preserve the child, and her interest in the royal family gave him an opportunity to set him on the throne: see the wisdom and care of Providence, and how it prepares for what it designs; and see what blessings they lay up in store for their families, that marry their children to those that are wise and good.

8 And ye shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand: and he that cometh within the ranges, let him be slain : and be ye with the king as he goeth out, and as he cometh in.

9 And the captains over the hundreds did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest commanded: and they took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that should go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest.

10 And to the captains over hundreds did the priest give king David's spears and shields, that were in the temple of the LORD.

11 And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, round about the king, from the right corner of the temple to the left corner of the temple, along by the altar and the temple.

e 1 Chr. 26. 26. 2 Sam. 8. 7. shoulder.

feared that the house and lineage of David were quite cut off, to find such a spark as this in the embers.

2. He posted the priests and Levites, who were more immediately under his direction, in the several avenues to the temple, to keep the guards, putting them under the command of the rulers of hundreds, v. 9. David had divided the priests into courses, which waited by turns; every sabbath day morning, a new company came into waiting, but the company of the foregoing week did not go out of waiting till the sabbath evening, so that on the sabbath day, when double service was to be done, there was a double number to do it, both they that were to come in, and they that were to go out; those Jehoiada employed to attend on this great occasion, he armed them out of the magazines of the temple with David's spears and shields, either his own or those he had taken from his enemies, which he devoted to God's honour, v. 10. If they were old and unfashionable, yet they that used them, might, by their being David's, be reminded of God's covenant with him, which they were now acting in the defence of.

Two things they were ordered to do; (1.) To protect the young king from being insulted; they must keep the watch of the king's house, (v. 5,) compass the king, and be with him, (v. 8,) to guard him from Athaliab's partisans, for still there were those that thirsted after royal blood. (2.) To preserve the holy temple from being profaned by the concourse of people that would come together on this occasion: (v. 6,) Keep the watch of the house, that it be not either broken through or broken down, and so strangers should crowd in, or such as were unclean. He was not so zealous for the projected revolution, V. 4-12. Six years Athaliah tyrannised; we have not a as to forget his religion; in times of the greatest hurry, care particular account of her reign, no doubt, it was of a piece must be taken, Ne detrimentum capiat ecclesia-That the holy withthe beginning; while Jehu was extirpating the worship of things of God be not trenched upon. It is observable that Baal in Israel, she was establishing it in Judah, as appears, Jehoiada appointed to each his place as well as his work, 2 Chr. 24. 7. The court and kingdom of Judah had been (v. 6, 7,) for good order contributes very much to the expediting debauched by their alliance with the house of Ahab, and now and accomplishing of any great enterprise; let every man one of that house is a curse and plague to both; sinful friend-know, and keep, and make good, his post, and then the work ships speed no better: all this while, Joash lay hid, entitled to will be done quickly. a crown, and intended for it, and yet buried alive in obscurity. Though the sons and heirs of heaven are now hidden, the world knows them not, (1 John 3. 1;) but the time is fixed when they shall appear in glory, as Joash in his seventh year; by that time, he was ready to be showed, not a babe, but, having served his first apprenticeship to life, and being arrived at his first climacterical year, he had taken a good step toward mannood; by that time, the people were grown weary of Athaliah's tyranny, and ripe for a revolution; how that revolution was effected, we are told:

I. The manager of this reat affair was Jehoiada the priest, probably, the high priest, or, at least, the sagan, (as the Jews called him,) or suffragan to the high priest; by his birth and office, he was a man in authority, whom the people were bound by the law to observe and obey, especially when there was no rightful king upon the throne, Deut. 17. 12. By marriage, he was allied to the royal family, and if all the seed royal were destroyed, his wife, as daughter to Joram, had a better title to the crown than Athaliah had. By his eminent gifts and graces, he was fitted to serve his country, and better service he could not do it, than to free it from Athaliah's usurpation; and we have reason to think he did not make this attempt, till he had first asked counsel of God, and known his mind, either by prophets, or Urim, or both.

II. The management was very discreet, and as became so wise and good a man as Jehoiada was.

1. He concerted the matter with the rulers of hundreds and the captains, the men in office, ecclesiastical, civil, and military: he got them to him to the temple, consulted with them, laid before them the grievances they at present laboured under, gave them an oath of secrecy, and, finding them free and forward to join with him, showed them the king's son, (v. 4;) and so well satisfied were they with his fidelity, that they saw no reason to suspect an imposition. We may well think what a pleasing surprise it was to the good people among them, who

3. When the guards were fixed, then the king was brought forth, v. 12. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, for even in thy holy mountain thy king appears, a child indeed, but not such a one as brings a wo upon the land, for he was the son of nobles, the son of David, Éc. 10. 17. A child indeed, but he had a good guardian, and, which was better, a good God, to go to. Jehoiada, without delay, proceeded to the coronation of this young king; for though he was not yet capable of despatching business, he would be growing up toward it by degrees; this was done with great solemnity, v. 12. (1.) In token of his being invested with kingly power, he put the crown upon him, though it was yet too large and heavy for his head; the regalia, it is probable, were kept in the temple, and so the crown was ready at hand. (2.) In token of his obligation to govern by law, and to make the word of God his rule, he gave him the testimony, put a bible into his hand, which he must read in, all the days of his life, Deut. 17. 18, 19. (3.) In token of his receiving the Spirit, to qualify him for this great work to which he before was called, he anointed him; though notice is taken of the anointing of their kings only in case of interruption, as here, and in Solomon's case, yet I know not but the ceremony might be used to all their kings, at least those of the house of David, because their royalty was typical of Christ's, who was to be anointed above his fellows, above all the sons of David. (4.) In token of the people's acceptance of him and subjection to his government, they clapped their hands for ioy, and expressed their hearty good wishes to him, Let the king live; and thus they made him king, made him their king, consented to, and concurred with, the divine appointment. They had reason to rejoice in the period now put to Athaliah's tyranny, and the prospect they had of the restora tion and establishment of religion, by a king under the tuition of so good a man as Jehoiada; they had reason to bid him welcome to the crown, whose right it was, and to pray, Let him live, who came to them as life from the dead, and in whom

12 And he brought forth the king's son, and house 'of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and put the crown upon him, and gave him the tes- his images "brake they in pieces thoroughly, and timony: and they made him king, and anointed slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. him; and they clapped their hands, and said, "God And the priest appointed officers over the house of 'save the king. the LORD.

13 And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the temple of the LORD.

14 And when she looked, behold, the king stood mby a pillar, as the manner was, and the princes and the trumpeters by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew "with trumpets: and Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason, treason! 15 But Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds, the officers of the host, and said unto them, Have her forth without the ranges; and him that followeth her kill with the sword. For the priest had said, Let her not be slain in the house Por the LORD.

16 And they laid hands on her and she went by the way by the which the horses came into the king's house: and there was she slain.?

17 And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD's people; between the king also and

the people.

18 And all the people of the land went into the

P. 21. 3. A Deut. 17. 18-20. i 2 Sam. 2. 4, 7. k Ps. 17. I live. 1 Sam. 10. 21. 1 Kings 1. 34. m c. 23. 3. 2 Chr. 34. 31. 1-10. o Ex. 21. 14. p Ez. 9.7

Let the king n Num. 10.

the house of David was to live. With such acclamations of joy and satisfaction must the kingdom of Christ be welcomed into our hearts, when his throne is set up there, and Satan the usurper is deposed; Hosanna, blessed is he that comes: clap hands and say, "Let King Jesus live, for ever live and reign, in my soul, and in all the world;" it is promised, (Ps. 72. 15,) He shall live, and prayer shall be made for him, and his kingdom, continually.

V. 13-16. We may suppose it was designed, when they had finished the solemnity of the king's inauguration, to make a visit to Athaliah, and call her to an account for her murders, usurpations, and tyranny; but, like her mother Jezebel, she saved them the labour, went out to meet them, and hastened her own destruction.

1. Hearing the noise, she came in a fright to see what was the matter, v. 13. Jehoiada and his friends began in silence, but now that they found their strength, they proclaimed what they were doing. It seems, Athaliah was little regarded, else she had had intelligence brought her of this daring attempt, before with her own ears she heard the noise; had the design been discovered before it was perfected, it might have been quashed, but now it was too late; when she heard the noise, it was strange that she was so ill advised as to come herself, and, for aught that appears, to come alone; surely she was not so neglected as to have none to go for her, or none to go with her, but she was wretchedly infatuated by the transport both of fear and indignation she was in; whom God will destroy, he befools. 2. Seeing what was done, she cried out for help: she saw the king's palace by the pillar possessed by one to whom the princes and people did homage, (v. 14,) and had reason to conclude her power at an end, which, she knew, was usurped; this made her rend her clothes, like one distracted, and cry, "Treason, treason! Come and help against the traitors." Josephus adds, that she cried to have him killed, that possessed the king's place. What was now doing, was the highest justice, yet it is branded as the highest crime; she herself was the greatest traitor, and yet is first and loudest in crying Treason, treason! Those that are themselves most guilty, are commonly most forward to reproach others.

3. Jehoiada gave orders to put her to death, as an idolater, a usurper, and an enemy to the public peace; care was taken, (1.) That she should not be killed in the temple, or any of the courts of it, in reverence to that holy place, which must not be stained with the blood of any human sacrifice, though ever so justly offered. (2.) That whoever appeared for her, should die with her; "Him that follows her, to protect or rescue her, any of her attendants that resolve to adhere to her, and will not come into the interests of their rightful sovereign, kill with the sword, but not unless they follow her now," v. 15. According to these orders, she endeavouring to make her escape the back way to the palace, through the stalls, they pursued her, and there killed her, v. 16. So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord: thus give the bloody harlot blood to drink, for she is worthy.

V. 17-21. Jehoiada has now got over the hardest part of his work; when by the death of Athaliah, his young prince had his way to the throne cleared of all opposition, he is now to improve his advantages for the perfecting of the revolution, and the settling of the government.

Two things we have an account of here:

I. The good foundations he laid, by an original contract, v. 17. Now that prince and people were together in God's house, as it should seem, before they stirred, he took care that they should jointly covenant with God, and mutually covenant with

[ocr errors]

19 And he took the rulers over hundreds, and the captains, and the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of the LORD, and came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king's house. And he sat on the throne of the kings.

20 And all the people of the land rejoiced," and the city was in quiet and they slew Athaliah with the sword beside the king's house.

21 Seven years old was Jehoash when he began to reign.

CHAPTER XII.

This chapter gives us the history of the reign of Joash, which does not answer to that glorious beginning of it, which we had an account of in the foregoing chapter; be was not so illustrious at forty years old as he was at seven, yet his reign is to be reckoned one of the better sort, and appears much worse in Chronicles than it does here, (2 Chr. 24.) for there we find the blood of one of God's prophetas laid at his door; here we are only tola, I. That he did well, while Jeholada lived, v 1-3. it. That he was careful and active to repair the temple, v. 4-16. 1. That after a mean composition with Hazael, (v. 17, 18,) he died ingloriously, v. 19-21.

IN "the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash began to

reign; and forty years reigned he in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba.

g Gen. 9. 6. r 2 Sam. 5. 3. Neh. 9. 8. 10.28, 29. s 2 Cor. 8. 5. Deut. 12. 3. Zech. 13. 2, 3. †ofices. Prov. 11. 10. 29. 2. 1, &c.

c. 10. 26, 27. a 2 Chr. 24.

each other, that they might rightly understand their duty both to God and to one another, and be firmly bound to it.

1. He endeavoured to settle and secure the interests of religion among them, by a covenant between them and God. King and people would then cleave most firmly to each other, when both had joined themselves to the Lord. God had, already, on his part, promised to be their God; (Jehoiada could show them that in the book of the testimony ;) now the king and people on their part must covenant and agree that they will be the Lord's people in this covenant, the king stands upon the same level with his subjects, and is as much bound as any of them to serve the Lord. By this engagement they renounced Baal, whom many of them had worshipped, and resigned themselves to God's government. It is well with a people, when all the changes that pass over them, help to revive, strengthen, and advance, the interests of religion among them. And those are likely to prosper, who set out in the world under fresh and sensible obligations to God and their duty. By our bonds to God the bonds of every relation are strengthened; they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us, 2 Cor. 8. 5.

2. He then settled both the coronation oath, and the oath of allegiance, the pacta conventa-covenant, between the king and the people, by which the king was obliged to govern according to law, and to protect his subjects, and they obliged, while he did so, to obey him, and to bear faith and true allegiance to him. Covenants are of use, both to remind us of, and to bind us to, those duties which are already binding on us. It is good, in all relations, for the parties to understand one another fully, particularly in that between prince and subject, that the one may understand the limits of his power and prerogative, the other of his liberty and property; and never may the ancient landmarks, which our fathers have set before them, be removed.

II. The good beginnings he raised on those foundations. 1. Pursuant to their covenant with God, they immediately abolished idolatry, which the preceding kings, in compliance with the house of Ahab, had introduced; (v. 18,) All the people of the land, the mob, got together, to show their zeal against idolatry; and every one, now that they were so well headed, would lend a hand to pull down Baal's temple, his altars, and his images. All his worshippers, it should seem, deserted him; only his priest Mattan stuck to his altar alone, though all men forsook Baal, he would not, and there he was slain, the best sacrifice that ever was offered upon that altar. Having destroyed Baal's temple, they appointed officers over the house of God, to see that the service of God was regularly performed by the proper persons, in due time, and according to the instituted man

ner.

2. Pursuant to their covenant with one another, they expressed a mutual readiness to, and satisfaction in, each other. (1.) The king was brought in state to the royal palace, and sat there on the throne of judgment, the thrones of the house of David, (v. 19,) ready to receive petitions and appeals, which he would refer to Jehoiada to give answers to, and to give judgment upon. (2.) The people rejoiced, and Jerusalem was in quiet, (v. 20;) and Josephus says, they kept a feast of joy many days, making good Solomon's observation, (Prov. 11. 10,) When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish, there is shouting.

NOTES TO CHAPTER XII.

V. 1-3. The general account here given of Joash is, 1. That he reigned 40 years; as he began his reign when he was very young, he might, in the course of nature, have con

« ElőzőTovább »