Further, as the calves of Jeroboam are referable to Egypt, so the worship of Baal, which was introduced by Ahab, the seventh of the Israelitish kings, had its origin in the Tyrian alliance formed by that monarch throirgh Ids marrii ge with Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of Sidon. Hitherto the national religion was ostensiblv the worship of Jehovah under the representation of the calves ; but under this new reign every attempt was made to extirpate tliis worship entirely by the destruc- tion of God's prophets and the subversion of his altars. It was to meet this new phase of things that the stren- uous agency of Elijah, Elisha, and their associates was directed, and assumed a quite peculiar form of prophetic ministration, though still the success was but ]mnia\ and temporary. See, however, under Ku.iau and Ei.isiia.
IV. Decay and Dissolution of the Kint/dom ofjsrael. —The kingdom of Israel developed no new power. It was but a portion of David's kingdom deprived of manv elements of strength. Its frontier was as open and as widely extended as before, but it wanted a capital for
the seat of organized power. Its territory was as fer- tile and as tempting to the spoiler, but its people were less luiited and patriotic. A corrupt religion poisoned the source of national life. While less reverence attend- ed on a new aiid unconsecrated king, and less respect was felt for an aristocracy reduced by the retirement of the Levites, the army which David found hard to con- trol rose up unchecked in the exercise of its wilful strength ; and thus eight houses, each ushered in by a revolution, occupied the throne in quick succession. TjTC ceased to be an ally when the alliance was no lon- ger profitable to the merchant city. Moab and Ammon yielded tribute only while under compulsion. A pow- erful neighbor, Damascus, sat armed at the gate of Is- rael; and beyond Damascus might be discerned the rising strength of the first great monarchy of the world.
The history of the kingtlom of Israel is therefore the history of its decay and dissolution. In no true sense did it manifest a principle of progress, save only in swerving more and more completely from the course marked out by Providence and revelation for the seed of Abraham ; and yet the history is interesting as show- ing how, notwithstanding the ever-widening breach be- tween the two great branches of the one community, the divine purposes concerning them were accomplish- ed. That a polity constituted as was that of the north- ern kingdom contained in it potent elements of decay must be self-evident, even were the fact less clearly marked on every page of its history.
There is reason to believe that Jeroboam carried back with him into Israel the good-will, if not the substantial assistance of Shishak, and this wiU account for his es- caping the storm from Egypt which swept over Keho- boam in his fifth year (2 Chron. xii, 2-9). During that first period Israel was far from quiet within. Although the ten tribes collectively had decided in favor of Jero- boam, great numbers of individuals remained attached to the family of David and to the worship at Jerusalem, and in the three first years of Rehoboam migrated into Judah (2 Chron. xi, 1(5, 17). Perhaps it was not until this process commenced that Jeroboam was worked up to the desperate measure of erecting rival sanctuaries with visible idols (1 Kings xii, 27) ; a measure which met the usual ill-success of profane state-craft, and ag- gravated the evil which he feared. Jeroboam had not sufficient force of character in himself to make a lasting impression on his people. A king, but not a founder of a dynasty, he aimed at nothing beyond securing his present elevation. Without any ambition to share in the commerce of Tj're, or to compete with the growing power of Damascus, or even to complete the humilia- tion of the helpless monarch whom he had deprived of half a kingdom, Jeroboam acted entirely on a defensive policy. He attempted to give his subjects a centre which they wanted for their political allegiance, in She- chem or in Tirzah. He sought to change merely so much of their ritual as was inconsistent with his author- ity over them. But, as soon as the golden calves were set up, the priests, and Levites, and many religious Is- raelites (2 Chron. xi, 16) left their country, and the dis- astrous emigration was not eflFectually checked even by the attempt of Baasha to build a fortress (2 Chron. xvi, 6) at Ramah. A new priesthood was introduced (1 Kings xii, 31) absolutely dependent on the king (Amos vii, 13) ; not forming, as under the Mosaic law, a landed aristocracy, not respected by the people, and unable either to withstand the oppression or to strengthen the weakness of a king. A priesthood created and a ritual devised for secidar purposes had no hold whatever on the conscience of the people. To meet their spiritual cravings a succession of jirophots was raised up, great in their poverty, their |.urity, tlKir austerity, their self-de- pendence, their moral inliuencc, but imperfectly organ- ized— a rod to correct and check the civil government, not, as they might have been under happier circum- stances, a staff to support it. The army soon learned its power to dictate to the isolated monarch and disu-