CHAPTER VII.

ELISHA AND THE THREE KINGS.

"Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. And he wrought evil in the sight of the Lord; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom. And Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool. But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. And King Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel. And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses. And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom. So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom: and they fetched a compass of seven days' journey: and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them. And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the Lord hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab! But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire of the Lord by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah. And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the Lord is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him."-2 KINGS iii. 1-12.

FROM Mount Carmel the prophet had next to proceed to the royal city of Samaria. He was now in readiness for whatever work the Lord had prepared for him. The call to it came sooner and in another form than could have been expected. Jehoram now reigned over Israel. King Ahab had died and been succeeded by Ahaziah, a wicked youth, to whom it had happened, as to many other weak and wicked persons, that nothing prospered to which he put his hand. At last he fell through a lattice, to his serious hurt. Instead of taking

timely warning and turning to the Lord, he sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the "Fly-god" of the Philistines. But his messengers were not even allowed to reach their destination. They were met by Elijah, and sent back to Samaria with tidings of death.

Ahaziah was succeeded by his brother Jehoram. The concise summary which Scripture gives of his religious. character, as working evil in the sight of the Lord, though not to the shameless extent of Ahab and Jezebel, and as putting away the image of Baal, but cleaving to the sins of Jeroboam, is abundantly confirmed by his history. He had the vices of his parents without the firmness of his mother. A more contemptible sovereign never ruled over Israel. Braggart and rash before danger arose, but cowardly and desponding at the first appearance of serious difficulty, he was always oscillating between boastfulness and utter despondency. Both Judah and Israel-but especially the latter-had terribly declined from the state of prosperity in which David and Solomon had left the country. Tributary neighbours. gradually regained their independence, and would ere long impose their own rule upon a nation which, with its God, had lost its strength. But so long as the determined hand of Jezebel tightened the reins in the trembling hold of Ahab, such efforts could not be made unchallenged.

Ahab himself had died from a wound received in the battle of Ramoth-Gilead, fought for the purpose of rescuing that place "from the hand of the king of Syria." In that battle Ahab had the assistance of one similar to him in natural character, though, happily, different as regarded religious principles. Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, was a pious monarch. But that fatal weakness which tolerated "the high places" in his land proved the curse of his reign. To the invitation of Ahab to join him against the king of

Syria, he had replied in terms which mercifully were only in part verified: “I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses" (1 Kings xxii. 4). It was only after Jehoshaphat had entered upon that ill-fated expedition, that it occurred to him to consult the Lord about its rightness. And in this inversion of things he is, alas, not solitary. It is strange, how prone religious persons are to make alliance with the world. It sometimes seems, as if we almost witnessed a race who should most readily abandon his principles. Not only is an alliance accepted, but it is in these terms: "I am as thou art, my people as thy people." God forbid that this should prove true!

But all such compromises arise from this mistake, the more dangerous because practical and not theoretical, that religion and every-day life can be separated. We have our own principles, so it is argued, and others have their views. There need be no collision. On these points we may agree to differ, a saying which may be ranked among those specious platitudes, by which the great Enemy has deceived and injured so many. What! agree to differ! On what subject? Whether Jehovah or Baal is God? Yes, we shall differ, but never agree to differ on this point, till our faithfulness and strength have disappeared under the insidious influence of slow but certain spiritual poison. May we not go further, and, with sadness at heart, say that the meannesses and even the sins of which Christian men and women are sometimes guilty in entering upon such alliances, or to put it in modern language, in agreeing to differ, but really in lowering themselves and abandoning their principles, in order to be taken notice of by the world and worldly society, are mainly the reasons of the diminished spiritual life which we mourn in the Church? In some instances, the mischief may not spring from a deeper source than the weakness of a

Jehoshaphat. We are afraid to appear singular; we wish to occupy our proper place; we must be like our neighbours; our children, our connections, our business requires conformity to the world. But if, indeed, spiritual things have been a reality to us; if we have fled for refuge to the hope set before us in the Gospel; if we have been purchased with the precious Blood of Jesus; if we have laid up our treasure in heavenlet us consider and see what we are doing when thus identifying ourselves with the world, as we go to the ballroom or the theatre. Are we not, in very deed, surrendering our most cherished principles by such associations? Let us learn by the example of Jehoshaphat. Merciful

indeed will be the dispensation, if ours, like his, be only outward and temporal harm, damage, and shame, and not, as too often, the impoverishment of our own souls, and deep loss to those of others.

Nor did Jehoshaphat on that occasion intend to go without the Lord. Before he marched to the battle-field he would "inquire at the word of Jehovah." But instead of seeking such direction before he went to Samaria, he asked it after he had gone, and when, consequently, it was too late. We also too often consult the Lord only after we have determined on our own course. We resolve to do a thing, though perhaps we may not confess so much to ourselves, and then we kneel down to pray-surely not for direction, but for success in what we have already chosen. This is to "ask amiss, that we may consume it upon our lusts."

To desire an Ahab "to inquire at the word of the Lord" (1 Kings xxii. 5) was but another, though a consistent, token of weakness on the part of Jehoshaphat. It was the way to be religious in Samaria. Of course Ahab consulted the prophets of Baal, and of course all the four hundred of them said with one accord, "Go up." Four hundred, or, for that matter, four

thousand priests of Baal will be readily found to say at any time, and to any expedition or alliance, "Go up." And even when, at the request of Jehoshaphat, whose conscience was by this time increasingly ill at ease, a prophet of Jehovah is sent for, the messenger who brings Micaiah-like the hopes. and wishes which accompany the prayers of those who, before praying for direction, have already settled what direction they want-entreats the prophet to let his word be like that "of one of them, and speak that which is good." But all was now too late; even the warning of Micaiah came too late. It is not easy to extricate ourselves from a false position; and Jehoshaphat had to suffer the consequences of his rashness. But he had at least so far profited by the lesson, that when Ahab's successor requested an allied expedition to Ophir, Jehoshaphat refused (ver. 49).

The ill-fated battle of Ramoth-Gilead had led to most serious consequences for the kingdom of Israel. No sooner had tidings of the defeat and death of Ahab reached Moab, than its king, hitherto tributary to Israel, resolved to cast off his allegiance. During the weak reign of Ahaziah no attempt was made again to reduce Moab to subjection. But when Jehoram came to the throne immediate measures were taken, in a manner characteristic of the new king. "He went out of Samaria," "and numbered all Israel." It was to be a grand national expedition. Having done thus much-and for the present begun, as he so often did, without calculating how he was to end-it occurred to him to solicit the alliance of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. Perhaps he had postponed this step because Jehoshaphat's refusal, when Ahaziah had formerly applied to him, rendered his present consent doubtful. But any such fear soon appeared groundless. Possibly, the circumstance that Jehoram had put away the image of Baal, may have seemed to Jehoshaphat sufficient warrant for an alliance,