Jotham therefore was associated with his father in the government. Upon the death of Uzziah, Jotham began his reign alone, and reigned sixteen years. He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, avoiding the sin of his father. He ruled in the fear of God, and he was prospered accordingly. The Ammonites were constrained to pay a heavy tribute: "The high gate of the temple was built"-new fortifications were constructed in Jerusalem, "castles and towers" were erected "in the mountains of Judah, and in the wilderness." "So Jotham became mighty, because he prepared his ways before the Lord his God." Jotham died, lamented by his people, and was buried in the city of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.*

While the kingdom of Judah was enjoying these long and prosperous reigns, the neighbouring kingdom was in the midst of civil war. Jeroboam had scarcely died when we find the restless spirit of this people manifesting itself. There appears to have been no strong attachment to any reigning family. Zechariah, the son of Jeroboam, had scarcely seated himself on the throne, when Shallum "conspired against him, and slew him before the people, and reigned in his stead." With this king the dynasty of Jehu ceased, according to the word of the Lord to him, "Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel until the fourth generation."

Shallum reigned but one month, when he, in turn, was slain by Menahem, the son of Gadi. Menahem spared no cruelties to establish himself upon the throne; every one who opposed his usurpation was put to the sword. Like the other kings of Israel, he followed in the steps of Jeroboam, "and did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord." The most memorable event in his reign was the invasion of Pul, the king of Assyria. This is the first that we hear of that kingdom or empire, which was to exert such an influence upon these kingdoms, and which occupies so large a space in the world's history. Menahem at once purchased a peace, and exacted the money, by an arbitrary and oppressive tax, from his people. The ambitious monarch of Assyria was satisfied for the present; but the extortion of Menahem left him little to hope from the loyalty of his people. While he lived, all insurrections were suppressed; but when, after a reign of eleven years, he left the throne to Pekahiah, a conspiracy broke out immediately. One of his captains, Pekah, son of Remaliah, rose up against him, and slew him in the royal palace, "and reigned in his room." Pekah's reign was not a peaceful one.

In the days of these kings, we have Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah, the prophets. From the warnings in which these prophets abound, we cannot fail to see that the nation was becoming more and more corrupt.

He had scarcely obtained the kingdom when another invasion from Assyria threatened the land. This time the king was not to be satisfied with a bribe-he came for spoil. All the northern part of the kingdom fell a prey to his power, and its inhabitants were carried captive to people his capital. Thus began the fulfilment of that threatening which God had uttered by Moses, against his apostate people. So general was this devastation, that Ephraim alone henceforth expresses the whole kingdom. This terrible calamity drew forth the prophet Isaiah. We hear him lamenting over Ephraim, and yet adding, as the end of all, the mournful conviction: "for all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still." Indeed, none of God's judgments, terrible as they were, made any salutary impression on the people.

SECTION XVIII.

THE REIGN OF AHAZ-THE FALL OF SAMARIA, AND DESTRUCTION OF THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL-THE GOOD REIGN OF HEZEKIAH-MANASSEH REIGNS WICKEDLY—THE REIGN OF AMON.

HAVING thus lost a large part of his kingdom, and finding himself unable to reclaim it, Pekah allies himself with Rezin king of Damascus, in an attack against the quiet land of Judah. To this kingdom we must now return. From the prophet Isaiah, we learn that the war was cruel as it was unexpected. It began in the latter days of Jotham. The fortresses which he had constructed were now of great service. But just at this juncture, when his experience was most needed, he was removed from the throne, and the kingdom left to the young and inexperienced Ahaz. To add to their calamity, Ahaz proved one of the most corrupt of the kings of Judah. "He walked

in the ways of the kings of Israel, made molten images for Baalim, caused his sons to pass through the fire, and sacrificed and burnt incense in every high place." As we might expect, the armies of such a king could not stand against their foes. They were given into the hands of Rezin and Pekah. A large number of the people were carried captive to Damascus. In the battle with Pekah, one hundred and twenty thousand fell, and a greater number still were taken captive. But as the king of Ephraim returned to Samaria* "with his captives and his spoils," the prophet Obed met him and forbade the enslavement of their brethren. The nobles of Ephraim generously seconded the

* Rezin appears to have gone on with his army across the kingdom of Ahaz, to the desert of Arabia, and captured the city of Elath, at the head of the Red Sea. This shows clearly how effectually Ahaz was subdued, when a hostile army could pass through the land without opposition.

message of the prophet, and said unto them that came from the war: "Ye shall not bring in the captives hither; for whereas we have offended against the Lord, ye intend to add more to our sins and our trespass." Upon this double remonstrance, the captives were fed and clothed, and carried back to their brethren at Jericho.

While Ahaz was thus suffering from the allied powers of Syria and Ephraim, he was also attacked by the Philistines on the south, who took possession "of six towns, with their villages." At the same time the Edomites threw off the yoke of Ahaz, marched into Judah, "and carried away captives."* "For the Lord brought Judah low, because of Ahaz, who made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord."

The distress of Ahaz wrought no reformation. Though warned by Isaiah (vii. 10.) not to fear, and assured of deliverance from his foes, he yet "sent messengers to Tiglathpileser, king of Assyria," "to save him from the hand of Syria and Israel.' With the ambassadors he sent all the treasures, royal and sacred, and even became tributary to the monarch of Assyria. The Assyrian king accepted the conditions, marched immediately against Rezin, slew him in battle, and captured Damascus. Upon this, Ahaz went to Damascus to meet his new ally. While there, he sacrificed to the gods of Syria. Nor was this all; he determined to carry the nation with him in his idolatry. He found Urijah the priest a fit instrument for his purpose. Against the king's return, Urijah had constructed an altar after the pattern which had been sent from Damascus. Upon this altar the king himself, with his more guilty priest, offered offerings and sacrifices continually. The brazen altar was removed from its place, the lavers were taken from their bases, the brazen sea taken down from the oxen "that were under it, the doors of the house of the Lord were shut up," "and altars built in every corner of Jerusalem." Thus, having abolished the public worship of God, and made high places unto other gods in every city, this miserable king passes from our notice. The only record which remains is, "that he was not buried in the sepulchre of the kings." He had lived to see his country wasted, his subjects made captive, and his kingdom pass into a more tributary power. The ally which he sought in his distress proved a troublesome protection, whose temporary favour could be bought only with the wealth of the kingdom. Hezekiah, his son, reigned in his stead.

In the meantime, the kingdom of Israel was rapidly tending to its fall. Pekah did not long enjoy his victory over Ahaz. He was slain in a conspiracy by Hoshea, the son of Elah.

Perhaps we may place the prophecy of Obadiah here.

sight of the Lord, but Fearing the Assyrian

"Hoshea did that which was evil in the not as the kings of Israel before him." power, Hoshea entered into an alliance with So, king of Egypt, and failed in his tribute to Assyria. This caused Shalmanezer, king of Assyria, to march an army into the land of Israel and besiege Samaria. After a three years' siege Samaria was taken, "and the people of Israel carried away into Assyria." Hoshea had reigned nine years,* and with him the kingdom of Israel came to its end. "For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and had feared other gods." For this they were punished. Although warned by the prophets, and besought to turn from their evil ways, yet they had rejected his statutes and his covenant, and gone after the heathen and their vanities. They had left the commandments of the Lord, and worshipped Baal. "They had caused their sons to pass through the fire, and used enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil." "Therefore, the Lord was very angry, and removed them out of his sight: as he had said by all his servants, the prophets." They had not fallen from any political necessity, but solely from their apostacy and sin. From the days of Jeroboam, onward, every king had failed utterly to recognize his true relation to God, and therefore they were rejected.

While the Israelites were thus removed to other parts of the Assyrian empire, men from Babylon, Ava, Sepharvaim, and Hamath, were brought in to supply their place. These inhabitants brought their idolatry with them, and, being infested with lions, sent to the king of Assyria. A priest accordingly was sent to them, "who should teach them the way (as they termed it) of the God of the land." Thus originated the mixed religious worship of the Samaritans; "they feared Jehovah and served their own gods." This sad end of Israel did not fail to attract the notice of the prophets of Judah. Their calamity is made the ground of warning to the nobles of Jerusalem. A warning, alas! not heeded, though faithfully and repeatedly pressed upon their attention.

Still, however, the kingdom of Judah was yet to experience the favour of God. The prophecy of Isaiah received its first fulfilment in the coming of a better earthly king. Hezekiah came to the throne at the age of twenty-five, and immediately began to restore the true religion. "He did that which was

The chronology of this reign is much perplexed. Some have supposed that there was a space of ten years between Pekah and Hoshea. The duration of the kingdom of Israel (whatever means we may adopt to reconcile different dates) will be about two hundred and fifty years. We may refer a part of the prophecy of Hosea to this reign.

right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done." The temple was again opened and repaired; the priests and Levites were restored to their offices; all the high-places, and images, and groves, with "the brazen serpent that Moses had made," were destroyed. The pious king, confessing the sin of his fathers, acknowledging the justice of God in his punishments, calls upon the priests to sanctify themselves, and join him "in a covenant with the Lord God of their fathers, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us."

The priests and Levites seem to have entered cordially into the plans of the king. In large numbers they sanctified themselves, and then "cleansed the house of the Lord." They began their work on the first day of the month, and finished upon the sixteenth. Hezekiah, having thus kindled the zeal of the priests, and purified the temple from all its abominations which Ahaz had brought into it, "gathered the rulers of the city," "and went up to the temple" to sacrifice sin-offerings "for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, and for Judah." In the most solemn manner they confessed their sin, "laying their hands upon the head of the victims," "and sprinkling the altar with their blood," "and thus made an atonement for all (Israel) Judah." While the sacrifices were going on, the services of the public temple-worship were re-instituted. The king and all the congregation bowed and worshipped, and the Levites, with their instruments, "sang praises unto the Lord in the words of David, and of Asaph the seer." Then followed a multitude of thankofferings, "from all the free-hearted of the congregation." So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order. "And Hezekiah rejoiced and all the people, that God had prepared the people, for the thing was done suddenly."

This revival of genuine religion was evidently a work of the Spirit of God, and brought with it a renewal of the great annual feasts. It was resolved to keep the passover on the second month, one month after the ordinary time, "for the priests were not sanctified, and the people were not gathered" at the usual time. Accordingly posts were despatched to the remnant of Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to "turn unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel," and join in this service. "Be not stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but turn again unto the Lord, and enter his sanctuary. For if ye turn again, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, and shall come again into this land: for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him." Some of the Israelites laughed the couriers to scorn. Some received the message gladly, and came to Jerusalem. All Judah came as with one heart, "moved by the hand of God."