jerobouam, and all Iſrael. d4Soie commodious Place whence thisVoicc might be heard by ferobeam, and ſome of his Hoſt, who potlibly were pitched in the Valley Or, the two Armies being pitched near to one another, A- F ja might defire a Parley before they fought ; whereupon Ferobo- am,and ſome of his Commanders and Souldiers, might draw near to :im, and ſtand below him at. the bottom of the Hill, where they might hear his Speech; which Jeroboam was the more willing to do, that in the mean time he might cauſe an Ambuſhmens to come behind Abijah and liis Army,as he did v.13. whileſt he was quietly ſtand- ing before them,and ſeemed to hearken to any Terms of Accom- modation which might be offered.
5 Ought ye not to know, that the LORD God of Iſrael gave the kingdem over Ifrael to David for ever, even to him and to his ſons by a covenant of ſalt e ?
e z. e, By a perpetual covenant, which thy Uſurpation cannot difanul. For the Phraſe ſee on Numb. 18.19.
6 Yet Jeroboam the ſon of Nebat, the ſervant of
Solomon the ſon of David,is riſen up and hath*rebelled againſt his lord.
7 And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial f, and have ſtrengthened themſelves againſt Rehoboam the ſon of Solomon, when Rehobo- am was young g and tender-hearted &, and could not
witchſtand- them.
f Such as have caſt off the Yoke & Obedience which they owed both to God and to their King. g Not in Age, for he was then 41 years old, but in his Kingdom, which he had but newly obtain= ed,and in Experience in Politick,and efpecully in Military Afffairs, ro which he was wholly a ſtranger,as having been born and bred up in a time of great Peace and Security. h z. e. Cowardly and fear- ful,who durſt not adventure to chaſriſe theRebels as he Mould have done. But herein Ab!jsh forgets his Duty both to his F ather, vhom
*; King: 11 :26.
were good LOR
thing. hin altogether : || and alſo in Judah things went wellz,
he falſly traduceth ; and to God, by whole Expreſs Command Re- hoboars waas reltrained from the War againſt rae, which rene
Chap. XIlr C |
|
*1]
f Heb. the hea, Ch:20; * Acts 3%
| Chap:
X11. I CH OM
he had both courge and Reſolution to proſecute, as appears from | the Hiſtory, 1 Atugs12, 21. : | ; s And now ye think to with-ſtand the kingdom of the LOKD.inthe hand of the ſons of David z,and ye be a great multicude &, and here are with you golden calves {, which Jeroboam * made you for gods m.
;Thar Kingdom which was not ſet up by Vain Men in purſuance of their own Ambition and Difcontenr, as yours was, but ordained + and eſtabliſhed by God himf{clIf in the Houſe of David. & Or, be« cauſe (that Hebrew Particle being oft ſo uſed) ye be, &c. This he mentions partly as the Ground of their Confidence, that they had more Tribes and a greater Hoſt; and partly as a preſage of their Downfal, which truſting to the Arm of Fleth is. / Or, #ut there
*1 King: y2; 29»
1c 18 Chap. xIVIR
Jeſhanah with the cowns thereof, and Ephraim e with . the rowns thereot. $9
d Which Jeroboam recovered afterwards, as appears by thh courſe of the Hiſtory, tho it be nor particularly mentioned, whic is the caſe of many other conſiderable things. And in the mea" time it is very probable,that when Jer*boam's Hoſt was diſcomfited? ind he expected that A4bijah would purſue his Victory,he removed the Golden Calf from Berh-el, which lay near Abijahs Kingdom, to ſome ſafer place» e A Ciry ſo called, poſlibly the fame which is mentioned, 7o4.41:54. or thar which is called Ophra, Judz. 8: 27.
20 Neither did Jeroboam recover ſtrength again in the days of Abijah* andthe LORD ftrook him f, and he died g.
are, ©c. There'is that among you which may damp your courage and Confidence : You worſhip thole Images which God abhors and
monly uſed, - e. inftead of God, ro give them the Name of God, as Exod. 32-4. and that worſhip which is peculiar to him.
9 * Have ye not caſt out the prieſts of the LORD, the ſons of Aaron, and the Levites, and have made you prieſts after the manner of the nations of ether lands ? {o that whoſoever cometh} to conſecrate himſelf » with a young bullock, and ſeven rams, the ſame may be a prieſt of chem that are no gods o.
2 i, e, To make himſelf a Prieſt. See on Levit. 7: 37+ 0 That have nothing of the Nature or Power, though you give them the Name of Gods. :
10 Burt as for us, the LORD p is our God, and we have not forſaken him q,and the prieſts which miniſter unato the LORD, are >: {ons of Aaron, and the Le- vites wait upon their bulinels. LS
p Heb. Jehovah, the oniy True and Great God. q We maintain his Honour and Worſhip which you 12ve ungratefully rejected.
11 * Aid they burn unto the LORD every morn- ing, and every evening, burnt fac:ifices and ſweet in- Tev:24.6 conſe : the * thew brezd aiſo ſer they in order upon the
pure table r, and the candieſtick of gold 5 with the *Fxod: lamps thereof, * to burn every evening t, for we keep 7:21. the charge of the LORD our God « ; but ye have for- faken him. 7 So cailed. becauſe it was made of pure Gold, Exod. 25. 23,24. s He faith Table and Candleſtick, though there were ten of each, ch. 4+7,8. either 1. b<cauſe Shiſhak had carried away all bur one : Or, 2. the ſingular number is pur for the plural, as 1 Kmgs. 7, 48. and oft elſ-where. Or, 3. becauſe ordinarly there was but one of each uſed at a time for thoſ: uſes. t And from Evening to Morning con- tinually, Lev. 24 2, 3. for which end one Candieirick was ſufficient and it 1s very improbable that all the Candieſticks were uſed every night. « This he ſaith, though he was an ungodly King ; either becauſe he flattered himſelf, and fancied thar his keeping up the External worſhip of God would make full fatisfaction for the Ere rours of his Lite : Or, that he might hereby encourage his own Heb. i Souldiers, and convince or terrifhe his Enemies. ep. 17
10 T2 And behold God himſelf ;s with us Þ for our cap-
(Ck:20:29, tain, and his prieſts with ſounding trumpets to cry
Aces 5- alarm againſt you x : O children of Iſrael, * fight ye
i* not againſt the LORD God of your fathers y, for ye ſhall no: proſper.
x Upon the ſounding whereof God hath ſuddenly promiſed to aſſiſr his People, Numb. 10. 9g, y You have nor only us for your Enemies, but (God, even the God whom your fathers honoured and ſerved, to their own great Comfort and Benefit.
13 But Jeroboam cauted an ambuſhment to come -abourt behind them = : ſo they were before Judah, and the ambuſhment was behind them,