PERIOD V.]

PROVERBS OF SOLOMON.

sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them." Solomon finishes all his instructions by saying, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter; Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man; for God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Solomon reigned over all Israel forty years, and was buried in the City of David.

Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, was forty-and-one years old when he began to reign, and all Israel went to Shechem to make him king. Jeroboam returned from Egypt when he heard of Solomon's death. And Jeroboam and all the congregation complained to Rehoboam of their heavy burdens under his father, and desired him to make their burdens lighter, and they would serve him. Rehoboam consulted with the old men, his father's officers, and they advised him to speak good words to the people, and to lighten their burdens; he next consulted with his young men, who advised him to make the burdens of the people heavier. On the third day Jeroboam and all the people came to him again, and the king answered them roughly, for he forsook the counsel of the old men, and followed the counsel of the young men, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke; my father also chastised you with whips, and I will chastise you with scorpions." So the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the Lord, that he might perform his saying, which the Lord spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

On hearing Rehoboam's answer, the people answered the king,

PERIOD VI.]

REVOLT OF THE TRIBES.

saying, "What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David." The king sent Adoram the treasurer to them, and they stoned him that he died; and Rehoboam made speed to get into his chariot and flee to Jerusalem. The tribes of Israel sent for Jeroboam, and made him king over all Israel; Rehoboam reigning over Judah only. Rehoboam assembled the tribes of Judah and Benjamin at Jerusalem, 180,000 men who were warriors, to fight against the tribes of Israel. But Shemaiah, the man of God, was instructed to go and tell Rehoboam, and the people of Judah and Benjamin, that they should not go to fight against their brethren, the people of Israel, but return every man to his house. They hearkened therefore to the word of the Lord, and departed.

Israel the kingdom of the ten tribes which revolted from Rehoboam, and chose Jeroboam to be their king. Its capital was at first Shechem and afterwards Samaria. The kings of Israel and their people fell into gross idolatry, and disregarded the warnings of the prophets whom God sent to them.

Judah the kingdom of Judah was separated from that of Israel after the death of Solomon; its metropolis was Jerusalem, its first king Rehoboam. It embraced the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and parts of those of Simeon and Dan. Many of the kings of Judah adhered to the true worship of God, while others fell into gross idolatry. The people of Judah never so totally forsook God as the people of Israel.

LESSON 74.

Jeroboam's Idolatry.

1 KINGS Xii. 25-xiii.

Jeroboam built Shechem in Mount Ephraim and dwelt therein; and Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: if this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of

JEROBOAM IS REPROVED AT BETHEL. [975-606 B.C.

Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah." Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. And he made a house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi; and he offered sacrifice upon the altar which he had made at Bethel. Now as Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God out of Judah, and he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, "O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee." And he gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out."

When Jeroboam heard the words of the prophet he stretched forth his hand to lay hold on him, and his hand dried up, so that he could not pull it to him again. The altar was also rent, and the ashes poured out. The king asked the man of God to pray that his hand might be restored; and he besought the Lord, and the king's hand became as it was before. Jeroboam asked the man of God to go home with him, and refresh himself, but he refused, saying, "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 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." So he went another way, and returned not by way that he came to Bethel.

the

There dwelt an old prophet in Bethel, and his sons went and

PERIOD VI.] THE MAN OF GOD OUT OF JUDAH IS SLAIN.

told him all that the man of God had done that day at Bethel. The old prophet of Bethel rode after him, and told him that he also was a prophet, and that an angel of the Lord had told him to bring him back, that he might eat bread and drink water. The man of God did as the old prophet desired him. And as they sat at table, the word of the Lord came to the man of God from Judah, saying, "Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee, 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 carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers." As he was afterwards returning home from Bethel, a lion slew him by the way. And the old prophet of Bethel had his carcase laid in his own grave, and charged his sons to lay his bones by the side of the bones of the man of God, saying that his word against Bethel should surely come to pass. After this Jeroboam returned not from his evil way.

LESSON 75.

1 KINGS xiv. 22 & 2 CHRONICLES Xi. 5-xii.

Rehoboam forsakes God. Shishak's Invasion. Rehoboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defence in Judah, and fortified the strong places and stored them with victuals, and put captains in them, and in every several city he put shields and spears, and made them exceedingly strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side. The priests and Levites out of Israel resorted to him, for Jeroboam had cast them off from executing the priest's office; and out of all the tribes of Israel such came as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel. All these strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years Rehoboam walked after the ways of David and Solomon. After this Rehoboam forsook the law of the Lord, and the people of Judah pro