representations of cherubim, and he said to 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." He set up the one in Bethel and the other in Dan, and he profanely consecrated priests from the very dregs of the populace. It was on this account that he is so frequently dishonourably characterised in the sacred history, as the unhappy man which made Israel to sin.

What event took place at the dedication of the altars of Jeroboam?

The dedication of these altars and symbols of idolatry, was proclaimed throughout all Israel; a great multitude assembled at Bethel; Jeroboam himself went up to the altar to offer incense and sacrifices; but a man of God appeared, made his way through the multitude, and unintimidated by the presence of the king of Israel, he cried aloud, "O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born to 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." When the prophet had completed this denunciation, the altar was rent by a supernatural power, and the ashes were poured forth. Jeroboam was so indignant at this unwelcome interruption of the ceremonies, that he stretched out his hand to seize the man of God; his hand however instantly withered, and the prayers of the prophet were required for its restoration. The prophet had now discharged his commission to Jeroboam; and as he had been commanded to partake of no refreshment in Bethel, where idolatry was now established, it was his duty instantly to have returned to his home. But he was enticed by a false prophet to stay to an entertainment; his disobedience was punished by his death; he was killed by a lion as he went on his way; and furnished an impressive and awful demonstration to all succeeding prophets, to be faithful to the obligations of their duty, and to the cause of their God.

Relate the principal events of the reign of Rehoboam. In the mean time Rehoboam, when too late, convin

ced of his folly, diligently applied himself to the fortification of his cities; and the number of his subjects was greatly increased by the migration of many of the Israelites from the territories of Jeroboam, disgusted with the impious attempt of that profane prince to supersede the worship of God. But Rehoboam and his subjects soon relapsed into idolatry, altars and statues were set up, groves and high places were consecrated, public prostitution was encouraged, and all the abominations which had invoked the divine vengeance upon the Canaanites, were shamefully perpetrated. The punishment of the guilty people was soon inflicted. Shishak the king of Egypt invaded Judæa with a mighty army, Jerusalem was taken, the treasures of Solomon became the plunder of the enemy, and Rehoboam was reduced to the humiliating necessity of replacing the golden shields which had formed the most magnificent decoration of the royal palace, with others made of brass. Twelve years of uninterrupted peace followed, and Rehoboam died after a reign of seventeen years. Utterly destitute of prudence and of virtue, this unhappy prince appears to have emulated the licentiousness of his father. By a great number of wives and concubines, he had twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters. Abijam his son succeeded him. What events took place in the reign of Abijam the successor of Rehoboam?

As soon as ABIJAM had ascended the A. C. 958. throne of Judah, he prepared to assert his right to the kingdom of Israel. At the head of four hundred thousand men, he encamped upon mount Zemaraim in Ephraim; and Jeroboam, with eight hundred thousand fighting men, advanced to meet him. Abijam addressed the Israelites, and he endeavoured, with all his eloquence, to revive their loyalty to the house of David, to reclaim them from their idolatries to the worship of God, and to induce them to dethrone Jeroboam as a base and impious usurper. While he was speaking, Jeroboam made a sudden and furious attack, consternation pervaded the army of Abijam, but the voice of prayer was heard, the priests sounded the holy trumpets, God struck the hearts of the Isra

elites with terror, five hundred thousand of A. C. 957. them were slain, several cities were captured after the victory, and Jeroboam was humbled under the hand of Abijam. The reign of Abijam was soon afterwards terminated. He swayed the sceptre of Judah only three years, he imitated the sinful proceedings of his father, and it is recorded to his reproach by the Jewish writers, that when he had obtained possession of Bethel, he suffered the golden calf which Jeroboam had set up to remain. He was succeeded by Asa, his first-born son.

What were the character and reign of Asa?

A, C. 955.

ASA was distinguished by his prudence, his abilities for government, and his fervent piety. He expelled from his kingdom those infamous wretches, who unnaturally prostituted themselves in honour of the beastly idols which had been set up; he re-established the worship of God, and he even deprived his mother of the office and dignity of queen, because she had erected an idol to Astarte. While his kingdom enjoyed the blessing of uninterrupted peace, Asa made the most vigorous preparations for its defence against any foreign attack; he repaired the fortifications of his cities, and armed three hundred thousand men in Judah and two hundred and eighty thousand in Benjamin. Zerah an Ethiopian, Egyptian, or as some plausibly affirm, an Arabian king, attempted the conquest of Judah with three hundred chariots, and a million of men. The providence of God interposed on behalf of Asa; Zerah was totally defeated; the immense treasures and all the cattle in the camp fell into the hands of the conquerors; and the pious gratitude of the king was displayed in the complete destruction of idols, in the sacrifice of seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep at a solemn festival in Jerusalem, and in the ratification of the national covenant with God, amidst the sound of trumpets, and the acclamations of the people.

A. C, 941.

How did the reign of Jeroboam in Israel terminate? In the second year of the reign of Asa, Jeroboam's career of impiety and blasphemy

A. C. 953.

was closed. Some time before his death, Abijah his eldest son was seized with a dangerous disease, and the mother of the young prince, at the instigation of Jeroboam, went to Ahijah, an aged prophet, to inquire whether her son would recover. Ahijah, though blind with age, immediately recognised the queen of Jeroboam, he declared to her that her son would die, that he would be the only person of her family who would receive funeral honours or be lamented by the people; and that as the punishment of his impiety and ingratitude, all the other descendants of Jeroboam would either be eaten by dogs, or devoured by birds. This appalling denunciation was soon fulfilled after the death of Jeroboam.

Who were the immediate successors of Jeroboam?

Jeroboam was succeeded by his son NADAB, who basely attempted to exceed the wickedness of his father. At the siege of Gibbethon, a fortress of the Philistines, he was assassinated by BAASHA, A. C. 950. one of his principal officers, after having reigned only two years; Baasha usurped the throne, and executed the prediction of Ahijah by the complete extirpation of the family of Jeroboam.

Did Asa maintain his fidelity to the God of his fathers to the termination of his reign?

The high reputation of Asa, and the re-establishment of the worship of God in Jerusalem, induced many of the Israelites to leave the territories of Baasha, and to place themselves under the protection of the king of Judah. In order to prevent this continual and ruinous emigration, Baasha began to fortify the city of Ramah on the frontiers of the two kingdoms. In this emergency Asa forgot his past deliverance from Zerah, and abandoned his confidence in God. He sacrilegiously took all the treasures of the temple, as well as the riches of the palace, and sent them to Benhadad, king of Damascus, to obtain from him the immediate invasion of the territories of Baasha. Benhadad complied; he seized upon several cities of the tribe of Naphtali; Baasha was compelled to leave Ramah to oppose the progress of the Syrians; Asa and his men immediately carried away the materials

which had been provided for the building of Ramah, and employed them in fortifying the cities of Gibeah and Mizpeh. The king of Judah had now departed from his former consistency and piety. When Hanani the prophet reproved him for courting the alliance of Benhadad, instead of listening with reverence to the messenger of God, he threw him into prison, and at the same became the oppressor of others of his people. In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, he was disabled by an excruciating disease, he sought relief rather from the applications of his physicians than the power and mercy of his God, his malady was mortal, he slept with his fathers after having worn the crown forty-one years, and he was buried in the sepulchre which he had prepared in the city of Jerusalem.

A. C. 913.

SECTION II.

FROM THE DEATH OF ASA TO THAT OF
АНАВ.

DESCRIBE the revolutions which took place at this period in the kingdom of Israel?

A. C. 929.

In the mean time the kingdom of Israel presented a frightful scene of treasons, murders, anarchy, and civil war. After the death of Baasha, his son ELAH, who succeeded him, after a short reign of two years, was assassinated, and all his family were slain, by ZIMRI one of his officers. ОмRI, another of the officers of Elah then engaged in the siege of Gibbethon, being elected king by his army, immediately marched against Zimri; and this murderer of his master, perceiving his ruin to be inevitable, set fire to his palace at Tirzah in despair and perished in the flames. A civil war followed between Omri and another chieftain of the name of Tibni. After a struggle of three years Tibni died; Omri was victorious; he removed the seat of government to Samaria, which he