The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 146

he thought _that ot~er iniqui~ies we!8 beyottd him. Once on _the downward grade, how- ever, there 1s no pornt at which a smuer can be sure of stoppmg. One crime lea.ds with a fatal facility to a_worse. The hea.rt grows hardened, and things are done whioh, at an earh_er ~tage, m1_ght have been thought impossible. It is told of Robespierre that, in the beginmng of his career, he was almost driven distracted by the thought of having sentenced a man to death. The greatest criminals were once innocent children and at one period of their lives would have shuddered at the deeds they afterwards' calmly perpetrated.. The only safe course is to resist the beginnings of evil. 3. EliiAa's a~11ouncement qf Hazaers greatness. Elisha's final announcement to Hazael was, "The Lord hath showed me that thou shalt be king over Syria." The prophet announces the fact, which indeed fulfilled a Divine purpose regarding Hazael (1 Kings xix. 15), but announces it without approval of the particular means by which that purpose would he realized. Jacob would have received the blessing in God's time and way, though his mother Rebekah hlld not counselled deceit as a means of obtaining it; and the kingdom would have come to Hazael, also in God's good time and way, though he had kept his hands free from crime. IIl. A PALACE MURDER. If Elisha's words did not arrest the guilty purpose which was shaping itself in Hazael's mind, they could only have the contrary effect of inflaming his ambition. Like Macbeth with the witches' salutation ringing in his ears, !,e felt himself a child of destiny, and took speedy means to fulfil his destiny. 1. He decei'.ved the king. He repeated, in the letter of them, Elisha's words, "'l'hou shalt rnrel: recover;" bnt said nothing 'of the context, which gave the words so terrible a significance. The king was assured that his disease was not mortal, which was true; but he was left in the dark as to the declaration that he should nevertheless surely die. 2. He slew the 1.-ing. Next day, probably while Benhadad slept, Hazael took a thick quilt, and, clipping it in water, spread it over the king's face, and suffocated him. He thus fulfilled. the prediction that be should be King of Syria. He "had bis reward." But was it worth the crime? What could compensate for a soul stained with the sin of treachery and murder? Of Banquo it was prophesied that he would be lesser than Jlfacheth, yet greater; not so happy, yet happier. Would the same not have been true of Hazael had he been content to remain Benbadad's faithful officer, instead of climbing to the throne in this hateful fashion? What, after all, is there so much to envy in the state of kings, that a soul's peace llhould be bartered. to acquire it? Surrounded by false friends; llerved by courtiers ready at any moment to turn against him if it serves their interests better; en vied even by those wb:i flatter him; exposed to the peril of a8snssination,-tbe monarch is al.most more to be pitied than the humblest of his subjects, 1-Iazael had but exchanged. his own pillow for a more thorny one. " Uneasy lies the h~ad that wears a crown."-J. 0. Vers. 16-29.-Two kings of Judah. (On the chronology, see Exposition.) The reigns of Jeboram and .A.baziah are black spots in the history of Judah. I. JEBORAM, BON OF JEHOSHAPHAT. We may notice concerning this ruler: 1. He had a pi,01J,S father. We may quote Thomas Fuller's quaint commmits on this part of the Saviour's genealogy: "Lord, I find the genealogy of my Saviour strangely checkered with four remarkable changes in four immediate generations. (1) 'Reboboam Ltgat Abia.m;' that is, a bad father begat a bad son. (2) 'Abiam begat Asa;' that is, a bad father a good son. (3) 'Asa begat Jehoshaphat;' that is, a good father a ~ood son. ( 4-) ' J ehoshapbat begat J oram ; ' that is, a good father a bad son, I see, Lord, from hence, that my father's piety cannot be entailed; that is bad news for me. Dut I see also that actual impiety is not always hereditary; that is good news for my son." 2. Be made an evil marriage. "'fbe daughter of Ahab "-Athaliah-" was his wife." In sanctioning this union of his son with the house of Ahab Jehoshaphat grievously erred. Jehosbaphat's whole policy of keeping up friendly relations with Ahab was a mistake, destined to bear bitter fruit in bis family and his kingdom. • No considerations of political upediency should have tempted him. to allow a marriage of the heir of his throne with a daughter of the infamous Jezebel. Rulers have even yet to learn that the sa.crifice of religious and moral considerations to state policy ie in the eud the greatest impolicy. Marriage ie a relation which cannot be too carefully en.terld int.o. Yet it is often the relation which is entered into most thoughtlessly. CJJ, IX, l-o7.j THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. 18i