THE new king was hardly seated on the throne before he was called upon to repress with a high hand a second and dangerous attempt of Adonijah to obtain the kingdom. As is usual in Oriental countries, the influence of Bath-sheba the queen-mother was very great. To her Adonijah preferred a request that she would intercede with the king in obtaining for him the hand of Abishag the Shunammite, his father’s latest wife (1 Kings ii. 17). Bath-sheba sought an interview with Solomon, who instantly saw in this petition a design upon the throne, and declaring that Adonijah had forfeited his claim to the indulgence extended to him after the late rebellion, directed that he should be put to death by the hand of Benaiah. But he divined that others were concerned in the insinuating request, and notably the high-priest Abiathar, and Joab the commander-in-chief. The former, in consideration of his past services, was not put to death, but simply degraded from his high office, and ordered to live in retirement at Anathoth, a Levitical city, about 3 miles north of Jerusalem, whereby the word of the Lord concerning the house of Eli was fulfilled (1 Sam. ii. 31–33). News of these events no sooner reached the ears of Joab than he fled for refuge within the curtains of the Tabernacle at Gibeon, and caught hold of the horns of the altar. Thither, however, Solomon sent Benaiah with orders to put him to death. Benaiah went and told his old companion-in-arms the king’s command. But Joab refused to stir from sanctuary, and the other returned to the king for fresh instructions. Solomon bade him not spare, but fall upon him even at the altar, urging his execution as a just recompense for the murder of Abner and Amasa. Thereupon he returned once more, and fell upon him at the altar, and obtained the important post of commander-in-chief, while Zadok succeeded to the high-priesthood (1 K. ii. 28–34).
Though David had spared the life of Shimei, he had on his death-bed cautioned Solomon against him, and now, possibly owing to some unrecorded symptoms of disaffection, the young king renewed the concession, but on condition that Shimei confined himself to the city of Jerusalem, and did not stray beyond the brook Kidron, which separated him from the road to his old home at Bahurim. For three years Shimei carefully complied with this condition. But two of his slaves fleeing to Achish king of Gath, he went thither and brought them back. This sealed his fate. Intelligence of what he had done was conveyed to Solomon, who sent for him, and ordered his execution by the hands of Benaiah (1 K. ii. 36–46).
Shortly before this last event the king convened a general assembly of all the notables of the realm at Gibeon, where was not only the venerable Tabernacle of the Wanderings, but the brazen altar of burnt-sacrifice (2 Chr. i. 3, 5). There accordingly were gathered together all the great officers of state, the judges, the governors, and the chief of the fathers, and a thousand burnt-offerings were consumed on the Altar. On the night following this solemn ceremonial, the Lord appeared in vision to Solomon as he slept, and bade him prefer any petition he desired. Impressed with the magnitude of the office to which he had been called, as yet humble in his own sight, and mindful of the mercy bestowed upon his father, the young king prayed not for riches, or honour, or long life, or the life of his enemies, but for a wise and understanding heart, that he might know how to rule his people. His prayer pleased the Lord, and because he had requested nothing for himself, He, who is wont to give to the sons of men “more than they ask or think,” not only promised him wisdom and knowledge, but assured him that all the blessings he had not asked should be “added unto him,” including length of days, if he, for his part, took heed to observe the statutes and commandments of Jehovah, as his father had done before him (1 K. iii. 6–14). Returning to Jerusalem the king offered burnt-offerings and thank-offerings to the Lord before the Ark of the Covenant, and celebrated a sacrificial feast with his whole court (1 K. iii. 15).
Very shortly he was called upon to give proof of that sagacity and clearness of judgment, especially in judicial cases, so much prized by Orientals. Of two women inhabiting one house together, each had an infant child. The mother of one overlaid hers while she was asleep, and rising at midnight, laid it in the bosom of the other woman, taking her live child in its place. In the morning the latter discovered the deception that had been practised upon her, and demanded the living infant. This the other woman refused, claiming it for her own, and both of them appealed to Solomon, who commanded the living child to be divided into two halves, one of which should be given to each. The anguish of the real, and the cruel acquiescence of the pretended mother in this sentence, decided the point in a moment, and proved the sagacity of the king. But besides judicial sagacity, Solomon was eminent for his attainments. He was deeply versed in all the knowledge of his age, his wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the East country, and all the wisdom of Egypt (1 K. iv. 30). In the course of his life he spake 3,000 proverbs, of which a considerable portion remain in the “Book of Proverbs,” and his Songs, of which the “Song of Songs” alone survives, were a thousand and five. He spoke or wrote also of trees, from the lofty cedar of Lebanon to the humble hyssop that springeth out of the wall, of beasts, of fowl, of creeping things, and of fishes. His fame spread abroad among surrounding nations; and there came of all people to hear his wisdom (1 K. iv. 34).
MINDFUL of the repeated instructions of his father, Solomon no sooner received the congratulations of Hiram, king of Tyre, upon his coming to the throne, than he sent to that monarch requesting that he would let him have Sidonian artisans, and a supply of cedar wood from the forests of Lebanon, for the construction of the Temple. Hiram responded with alacrity to the request, and a regular treaty was entered into between the two kings. Solomon bound himself to send yearly 20,000 cors318 of wheat, and 20 cors of oil to the Phœnicians, while Hiram undertook to float cedar trees and fir-trees to Joppa, and to send a number of skilled artificers to Jerusalem. For the purpose of felling the timber, a levy of 30,000 Israelites was made, who were placed under Adoniram; 10,000 were employed at a time, and relieved each other every month, spending a month in the mountains of Lebanon, and the other two months at their own homes (1 K. v. 13, 14). Besides these, 70,000 were employed as porters, and 80,000 as hewers in the various quarries. These latter were bondslaves, remnants of the Canaanites, who had not been expelled from the land. Under the eye of Tyrian master-builders, they hewed, and squared, and bevelled the stupendous blocks, some measuring even 17 and 18 feet, for the foundation of the sacred edifice.
The site, which had been already selected by David, was the eminence of Moriah, on the east of the city, rendered sacred at once as the spot where Abraham had offered up Isaac, and where the plague had been stayed during the last reign319. “Its rugged top was levelled with immense labour; its sides, which to the east and south were precipitous, were faced with a wall of stone, built up perpendicular from the bottom of the valley, so as to appear to those who looked down, of most terrific height; a work of prodigious skill and labour, as the immense stones were strongly mortised together and wedged into the rock.”
On this site, after 3 years of preparation, in the 4th year of Solomon’s reign, and the 480th after the departure from Egypt, the foundations were laid. No sound of hammer or axe, or any tool of iron, was heard as the structure rose (1 K. vi. 7). Every beam already cut and squared, every stone already hewn and bevelled, was laid silently in its appointed site,
Like some tall palm the noiseless fabric sprung320.
Within a quadrangle formed by a solid wall was an open court, afterwards known as the Court of the Gentiles. Within this, surrounded by another wall and on a higher321 level, was the Court of the Israelites, and within this, and on a still higher level, the Court of the Priests. The Temple itself was built on the model of the ancient Tabernacle, but of more costly and durable materials, and like it consisted of the Porch, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies322.
(1) The Porch or Hall, which faced the East, was 10 cubits deep from E. to W., by 20 in width from N. to S., and 30 cubits high323. Either within, or, as some think, on either side of it, rose two brazen Pillars, the one called Jachin (durability), the other Boaz (strength), their capitals ornamented with network, chainwork, and pomegranates. (2) The Holy Place, the dimensions of which were exactly double those in the Tabernacle324, was 40 cubits long, by 20 wide, and 30 high. Its walls were of hewn stone, wainscotted with cedar and overlaid with gold325, and adorned with beautiful carvings representing cherubim, fruit, and flowers. It was entered by folding doors, similarly overlaid with gold and richly embossed. The floor was of cedar, boarded over with planks of fir or cypress; the ceiling was of fir, but both, as indeed every part, overlaid with gold in the richest profusion. In the Holy Place, as in the Tabernacle, stood the golden Altar of Incense, the Table of Shew-bread, and the Candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right, and five on the left. (3) A rich veil of the brightest colours separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, which was a perfect cube of 20 cubits. Here was the original Ark overshadowed by two colossal Cherubim of olive wood overlaid with gold, 10 cubits in height. These stood at each end, N. and S., and faced each other, each having two wings expanded, so that one wing of each touched over the Ark, and the other touched the wall. Outside the Holy Place stood a great Tank or “Sea” of molten brass, 10 cubits in diameter, 30 round, 5 high, and capable of holding 2000 baths. It was supported on 12 oxen, three turned each way, and its rim was ornamented with blossoms. Besides this there were 10 Lavers, for the purpose of ablutions, which stood on moveable bases of brass; each side of these was formed in three panels, and adorned with figures of oxen, lions, and cherubim. The great Brazen Altar of Burnt-sacrifice, 20 cubits long and 10 high, stood on the exact site of the threshing-floor of Araunah.
At length, by the 7th month in the 11th year of Solomon’s reign, the work was completed, and the king invited the chiefs of the different tribes, all the notables of the realm, as also the entire priestly and Levitical body326, to the solemn dedication. He himself took his seat on a raised throne of brass; the sacrificers stood before the Altar of Burnt-offering, surrounded by the choir arrayed in white robes, and playing on cymbals, psalteries, and harps; while the assembled nation crowded the courts without. Countless sheep and oxen were first laid on the brazen altar. Then from under the covering, where David had placed it, the priests solemnly brought the Ark of the Covenant to the folding-doors of the Temple. These were opened, and then past the Table of Shew-bread, and the golden Candlesticks, and the Altar of Incense, it was conveyed through the Veil to its appointed place, and the Cherubim spread over it their wings, and “received it, as it were, under their protection.” At this moment the choir lifted up their voices with the trumpets and cymbals, and instruments of music, and made one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord327, whose mercy endureth for ever, and simultaneously the Temple was filled with a cloud (1 K. viii. 10, 11), the “Glory” of the Lord descended, and Jehovah took possession of His new abode. Thereupon the king, rising on his brazen throne, and kneeling down upon his knees, spread forth his hands toward heaven, and offered up a solemn and sublime prayer. As he concluded with the petition, Arise, O Lord God, into Thy resting-place, Thou and the Ark of Thy strength, fire flashed forth from the “Glory” already filling the Temple, and consumed the burnt-offerings and the sacrifices (2 Chr. vii. 3), while the priests stood without, blinded with the excess of splendour, and the people bowing with their faces to the ground, worshipped and praised the Lord. The ceremony of dedication lasted seven days, and was succeeded by the Feast of Tabernacles, which was continued for two weeks, or twice the usual time328. During it, upwards of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep were partly offered in sacrifice, and partly made the materials of a great sacrificial feast, from which, on the 23rd day of the 7th month, the king sent the people away, glad and merry in heart for the goodness that the Lord had shewed unto David, and to Solomon, and to Israel His people (2 Chr. vii. 10).
BEFORE the Temple was thus completed, Solomon had proceeded to construct other magnificent buildings. Amongst these was a sumptuous palace for himself, surrounded with beautiful pleasure-grounds, which stood within the city opposite to the Temple, and occupied 13 years in building (1 K. vii. 1). Another palace he built for Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had espoused, and besides it the house of the forest of Lebanon329, 175 ft. long, half that measurement in width, and 50 ft. high. The roof, which was made of cedar, was supported by 4 rows of cedar columns, and the whole received light from 3 rows of windows on each side. Adjoining it were the women’s apartments, a banqueting-hall, and spacious and luxuriant gardens.
Other works were designed for use and security; among these were artificial reservoirs for supplying the city with water, and the strengthening or repairing of a fortress called Millo (1 K. ix. 15), already begun by David (2 Sam. v. 9). Solomon also fortified Baalath330; Gezer331 and the two Beth-horons on the great road towards the sea-coast; the strong and important post of Hazor332 to defend the entrance from Syria and Assyria; Megiddo to guard the Esdraelon plain; while, for the protection of his eastern caravans, he built Tadmor, afterwards called Palmyra, in the Syrian wilderness, and Tiphsah or Thapsacus333 on the Euphrates (2 Chr. viii. 3–6).
SOLOMON’S DOMINIONS,
THE
KINGDOMS OF JUDAH & ISRAEL
AND THE
LANDS OF THE CAPTIVITIES.
London: Macmillan & Co.
His reign was a period of great commercial activity. On the North-west the important kingdom of Phœnicia was united with him by the bonds of a strict alliance. Once only did Hiram, king of Tyre, express any dissatisfaction with the dealings of his powerful friend. Solomon had bestowed upon him twenty cities which he had conquered in the land of Galilee, on the borders of Asher. But when the Tyrian king came forth to see them, he was much dissatisfied. One of them named Cabul, now Kabûl, about 8 or 9 miles east of Akka, in his own Phœnician tongue denoted displeasure, and this name he gave to them all (1 K. ix. 10–13).
1. But Phœnician enterprise was turned to account in other directions. Having possession of the Eastern shore of the Red Sea, Solomon strengthened the ports of Elath and Ezion-geber (the giant’s backbone), and with the assistance of Tyrian shipwrights, constructed a fleet, which sailed to Ophir334, and returned with gold, silver, ivory, and other products (1 K. ix. 26–28).
2. The Tyrian alliance opened up also the traffic of the Mediterranean. On every shore washed by this sea Phœnician energy had founded colonies, and opened trading ports, of which the chief was Tarshish, or Tartessus—“the Peru of Tyrian adventure335”—on the southern coast of Spain, at this time abounding in gold and silver mines. Hither Solomon’s fleet sailed in company with that of Hiram, and brought back every three years of its precious products (1 K. x. 22).
3. Another important outlet for trade was supplied by Egypt. Not only had Solomon espoused a daughter of Pharaoh, but in defiance of the Mosaic Law (Deut. xvii. 16) he exchanged the produce of his own country for the horses and chariots of Egypt, as also for the linen-yarn, spun from the flax which the Nile valley yielded in abundance (1 K. x. 28, 29).
4. Last, but not least important, was the inland trade of the Arabian peninsula. Caravans of the native tribes transported on camels the spices, incense, gold, precious stones, and valuable woods of the country, especially the almug or sandal, and brought them into the dominions of Solomon, or, if they were intended for his Tyrian allies, to Gezer and Beth-horon, whence they were transported to the port of Joppa.
But though these several branches of commerce opened up to the Hebrew kingdom many and various sources of national prosperity, and tended to multiply the luxuries and magnificence of the court, this prosperity was on the surface only. Hidden beneath its external splendour were several cankers, which surely though secretly undermined the true life of the nation. First of all, this massing of gold and silver, as doubtless the Jewish Lawgiver had foreseen, could only be brought about by a process of severe taxation. And while forced to bear burdens heavy and grievous, the nation saw the tide of commercial profits, instead of being fairly distributed among the people, flowing only into the royal exchequer. Secondly, these commercial alliances seriously affected the nation’s allegiance to Jehovah. In imitation of other Oriental empires Solomon surrounded himself with a numerous harem, having 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 K. xi. 1–3). Besides the daughter of Pharaoh, he espoused women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites, and, as he grew old, they turned away his heart from the worship of the true God. Three times, indeed, during the year he celebrated the Festivals of Jehovah (1 K. ix. 25), but the licentious worship of Baal and Ashtaroth, of Moloch and Chemosh, found its way even into the Holy City, and their hideous orgies were enacted “hard by the oracles of God” (1 K. xi. 5–8).
At first, perhaps, there may have been few signs of weakness in a fabric so vast and so magnificent. In the figurative language of the sacred record, silver was in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar-trees as sycamores; Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry; in the enjoyment of profound peace, every man dwelt safely under his vine and under his fig-tree. Princes administered the government of various portions of the empire (1 K. iv. 1–6); officers deputed for the purpose provided victual for the royal table, and barley and straw for Solomon’s 40,000 chariot-horses, his 12,000 war-horses (1 K. iv. 26), and his swift mules; kings and princes of subject-provinces brought in their tribute at a fixed rate year by year (1 K. x. 25); and when the queen of Sheba came with her great train from distant Yemen in Arabia to prove the king with hard questions, and beheld his palace, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cup-bearers, and the ascent from his own palace to the Temple336, there was no spirit left in her, and she confessed that the half of his fame and magnificence had not been told her (1 K. x. 1–9).
Before long, however, clouds began to gather portending the coming storm. Once at Gibeon, on the occasion of his accession, again after the dedication of the Temple (1 K. iii. 5; ix. 2), the Lord had appeared to Solomon, and on condition that he continued to walk in the ways of his father, had promised to crown him with prosperity, and establish his dynasty, but at the same time had warned him that any apostasy would bring down severe punishment. But promise and warning had been alike forgotten, and when the Lord appeared for the third time, it was to announce that the kingdom should be rent from him (1 K. xi. 9–13).
i. The quarter, whence danger first threatened, was on the south, in the land of Edom. When Joab invaded that country during the late reign, and for six months directed an indiscriminate massacre of the male population, Hadad, who was of the blood royal, and at that time a little child, was carried off into Egypt, where he was hospitably received by the reigning Pharaoh, and rapidly rising in the royal esteem, obtained the hand of Tahpenes, the sister of the Egyptian queen. On the death of David and of Joab, he returned from Egypt, and thirsting to break off the hard yoke of Jacob from the neck of Esau, organized a revolt in his native land, and began to threaten Solomon’s communication with the Elanitic Gulf (1 K. xi. 15–22).
ii. A second adversary appeared in the north-eastern provinces of the empire. Rezin, the Syrian, the son of Eliadah, flying from the defeat which his feudal lord Hadadezer, king of Zobah, had sustained at the hands of David, put himself at the head of a band of adventurers and seized Damascus. Here he set up a petty kingdom, and became an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, and an impediment to the king’s commerce with Tadmor and the Euphrates (1 K. xi. 23–25).
iii. But a far more formidable adversary appeared nearer home. When Solomon was constructing the fortifications of Millo under the citadel of Zion, he observed the industry and activity of Jeroboam, already known as a man of valour, the son of an Ephraimite, named Nebat. Perceiving his worth, the king not only employed him on the works, but elevated him to the rank of collector of the taxes from his native tribe. On one occasion as he was going out of Jerusalem, Jeroboam encountered the prophet Ahijah of the ancient sanctuary of Shiloh, and accompanied him to a neighbouring field. When they were alone, the prophet rent the new outer robe in which he was attired into twelve pieces, and gave ten of them to Jeroboam, assuring him at the same time that he should reign over ten of the tribes, and that if he proved faithful to His laws God would establish his dynasty as he had done that of David (1 K. xi. 26–39). News of this mysterious intimation in some way reached the ears of Solomon, and he sought to put Jeroboam to death, but the latter fled for refuge to the court of Shishak (Sheshonk I.), a powerful monarch, who was bent on restoring Egypt to its former greatness. Here he remained during the rest of Solomon’s reign. Departing from his earlier policy the king had laid the burden of compulsory labour not only on the remnant of the Canaanites, but on the Israelites themselves (1 K. v. 13, 14). This increased the old jealousy of the great house of Joseph, and a man like Jeroboam was certain at any time to rally round him all the national discontent and ill-feeling against the once prosperous monarch.
While the signs of coming danger were thus becoming more and more evident, Solomon’s reign of 40 years came to a close, B.C. 975. The hopes he might have inspired when first elevated to the throne had not been fulfilled. He had, indeed, built the promised Temple; he had adorned Jerusalem with sumptuous palaces; his wisdom and learning had attracted the notice and roused the envy of distant monarchs; but he had not been mindful, save for a short time, while the example of David and the instructions of his preceptor Nathan were fresh in his memory, of the vocation to which he had been called. His kingdom exhibited some of the worst faults of other Oriental monarchies. He had violated each and all of the fundamental principles of the kingdom as laid down by the great Lawgiver of his nation. He had encouraged the worst forms of idolatry, had multiplied wives, had amassed enormous wealth, had laid heavy burdens on the people, and sated with pomp and splendour and selfish luxuries, he had confessed the vanity of his life (Eccles. i. 12–18). The kingdom which Abraham had seen in vision stretching from the river of Egypt to the gates of Damascus had, indeed, been realized, but its unity was not destined to survive the reign of the son of David337.
REHOBOAM, the successor of Solomon, was 41 years of age when he came to the throne. Though his title does not seem to have been disputed at Jerusalem, he deemed it right to obtain a more general and public recognition, and probably as a concession to the powerful house of Joseph, convened a solemn assembly of the tribes at Shechem, its ancient but ruined338 capital. On his arrival there he encountered Jeroboam, who had been summoned from his retreat in Egypt, and now boldly appeared at the head of a deputation from all the tribes requesting a remission of the taxes and other heavy burdens, which had been laid upon the nation during the late reign. Thus directly appealed to, Rehoboam requested a space of three days for deliberation, and during this period first consulted the old advisers of his father. They unanimously suggested that he should accede to the nation’s request, and lighten its burden. But besides these experienced counsellors there were young men of rank, who had been the king’s companions, and were now about his court. They could ill brook any line of policy that seemed likely to lower the power of their patron, and advised him to take up the matter with a high hand, and by a firm denial of the nation’s request put down once and for all any similar demand. In an evil hour Rehoboam listened to their counsel, and at the end of the three days, when the envoys, again headed by Jeroboam, were summoned into his presence, announced to them his final resolve. My father made your yoke heavy, said he in the true spirit of an Oriental despot, and I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions (1 K. xii. 1–15).
This senseless reply was no sooner made known to the tribes than it roused a general spirit of rebellion. What portion have we in David? exclaimed the great tribe of Ephraim, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel; now see to thine own house, David (comp. 2 Sam. xx. 1). The assembly broke up in confusion, and each man returned to his home. But Rehoboam did not yet discern the full force of the rising storm. He was unwise enough to send Adoram, who had been chief receiver of the tribute during the reigns of his father and grandfather (2 Sam. xx. 24; 1 K. v. 14), to levy the usual dues. But the fate of his envoy proved the strength of the popular feeling. All Israel stoned him with stones, that he died, and the king himself was obliged to fly in haste to Jerusalem. His first impulse on his return was to punish the rebellious tribes, and for this purpose he gathered together an army of 180,000 men. But his preparations for a civil war were forbidden by Shemaiah, a man of God, who declared it to be the will of Jehovah that all hostilities should be laid aside, for the rending of the kingdom was from Him (1 K. xii. 18–24). Thereupon the projected war was given up, and the rebellion was complete339.
According to the new division of the land, (i) The kingdom of Judah included that tribe itself, together with Benjamin, which transferred to it its allegiance probably because Jerusalem was within its borders, and, at least eventually, a part if not all of the territory of Simeon and of Dan. For the present Edom appears to have remained its faithful vassal, and guarded the caravan trade with Ophir, while Philistia continued, for the most part, quiet. (ii) The kingdom of Israel, on the other hand, included that of the remaining eight tribes, i.e. Ephraim, and half Manasseh, Issachar, Zebulun, Asher, and Naphtali, as well as the coast line between Accho and Joppa, on the west of the Jordan; Reuben, Gad, and the remaining half tribe of Manasseh on the east of that river. Its vassal states were Moab (2 K. iii. 4), and so much of Syria as had remained subject to Solomon (1 K. xi. 24)343.
The first act of Jeroboam, on being declared ruler of the Ten Tribes, was to give a capital to his kingdom. For this purpose he rebuilt and fortified Shechem. His next step was to secure his dominions against his powerful northern neighbour, Syria. He, therefore, fortified Penuel344 beyond the Jordan, which commanded the fords of Succoth, and was on the great caravan road leading over Gilead to Damascus. But it required little reflection to convince him, that so long as the yearly pilgrimages summoned their thousands and tens of thousands to Jerusalem, his authority was but nominal. The Levitical class would constantly require to go up to the City of David in the order of their courses345, and the majority of them began to leave his kingdom for that of Judah. Without a Temple, without the Ark, without a Priesthood, he felt he could not maintain his power. Within the boundaries, however, of his realm were two sanctuaries, Bethel in the south, and Dan in the north. These, after some deliberation (1 K. xii. 28), he resolved to elevate into seats for national worship, which he hoped might rival the Temple at Jerusalem. Instead, however, of erecting altars there in honour of Jehovah, he made two calves of gold, figures probably of Apis or Mnevis, whose worship he had often witnessed during his residence in Egypt, and set them up at either sanctuary, with the address, Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt (1 K. xii. 28). Moreover, at both places he established a new order of priests, not taken from the sons of Levi, but from the lowest of the people, and therefore absolutely dependent on himself, and into this order any one could obtain admission on sacrificing a young bullock and seven rams (2 Chr. xiii. 9).
Having taken these measures, on the 15th day of the eighth month346 he proclaimed a solemn Festival of Dedication, and went up to Bethel, to offer incense in person on the altar. But at this critical moment, as he was standing there, a man of God from Judah appeared, who boldly confronted the king, denounced the idolatrous service, and foretold the desecration of the altar by a future king of the house of Judah, Josiah by name, who would offer upon it the priests of the high-places, and burn men’s bones upon it (See 2 K. xxiii. 15). Enraged at this out-spoken defiance, Jeroboam stretched forth his hand, and bade the bystanders seize the bold stranger. But at the moment his hand became suddenly paralysed, and at the same time the altar was rent asunder, and the ashes of the victims were poured out. Now thoroughly alarmed, the king implored the prophet to intercede with the Lord for him, that the heavy judgment he had incurred might be removed. The other complied, and the king’s hand was restored. Grateful for this signal favour, Jeroboam would now have hospitably entertained the man of God. But the latter had been sent on a special errand, and his commands had been precise, and peremptory, neither to eat bread, nor drink water in a place so openly profaned with idolatry, nor even to return thence by the same road that he had come. Accordingly he declined the royal invitation, and went his way (1 K. xiii. 10).
On the road, however, as he lingered under an oak, he was overtaken by an old prophet of Bethel, who had heard from his sons of the day’s occurrences at the festival. His own guilty silence had wellnigh made him a partaker in the sins of the king, and the bold bearing of the stranger reminded him of what he himself should have done. Either, therefore, from a wish to win respect for himself once more by intercourse with such an accredited messenger of the Most High, or with the full intention of deceiving him, and so bringing discredit on his words, he hurried after him, and now announced himself as the bearer of a distinct Divine command that he should return to Bethel. Overcome by this solemn declaration, the other accompanied him to the town. But as they were seated at the meal, the Spirit of the Lord came upon the guilty host, and the Deceiver was constrained to pronounce the doom of the Deceived. The man of God had been faithless to the terms of his commission, and a certain death awaited him, nor should his body ever come into the sepulchre of his fathers. With his doom upon him he went his way, and a lion met and slew him (1 K. xiii. 24).
But though dead, he was yet to speak, and testify to the solemnity of the mission on which he had been sent. When he was found lying dead on the road, the lion also was standing there, as well as the ass on which he had ridden; the beast of prey had not eaten the corpse, nor torn the ass. Thus the mysterious circumstances of the prophet’s death confirmed that sign of his authority, which he had weakened during his life; and the old prophet of Bethel, by laying him in his own sepulchre with all honour, and charging his sons after his death to bury him beside the victim of his own deceit, preserved in Jeroboam’s new religious capital a silent witness against the idolatries there practised (1 K. xiii. 30–32).