Vere. 23-29.-The reign of Jeroboam II. .After the usual statement that Jeroboam "did evil in the eight of the Lord, and departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of.N ebat, who made Israel to sin, n we have some brief notices of his reign. Note- I. 'l'HE REVIVED FORTUNES OF !SBA.EL. 1. Jeroboam's successes in war. This able monarch continued the work of Joaeh. In ful6lmcnt of the promise that God would give Israel a saviour, Jeroboam was enabled to complete the reeovery of the cities and territories of Israel from the Syrians. "He restored the coast of Israel from the entering in of Hamath unto the sea of the plain," that is, he extended the boundaries of the king- dom as widely as they bad ever reached in the days of its greatest prosperity. 2. The cause of this-God's pity for Israel. This remarkable turn in the fortunes of Israel was strange when it is remembered that Jeroboam was not a man who had the fear of God before him. The explanation is that already given (eh. xiii. 23), the pity which God had for Israel, his desire to give it one more chance before blotting out its name, his respect for the covenant with the fathers, and, subordinately, his regard to the prayer of Jehoahaz (eh. xiii. 4, 5). If, as the result of this revival of the nation's for- tunes, piety did not also revive, destruction would come all the more speedily. In raising up this powerful king to save Israel, we see God's faithfulness to his promise. II. PBoPBETIO ACTIVITY. We have allusion in the tex.t to the prophetic activity of Jonah, the son of Amittai, the same who was sent to Nineveh, and we know that in this reign other prophets, notably Hosea and .Amos, exercised their ministry. The writings of the latter prophets show us how, amidst the sunshine of revived prosperity, the condition of the people did not improve, but grew more and more corrupt. But God's faithfulness and care and love for his people are shown in sending such prophets to warn them (cf. eh. xvii. 13). What could exceed the tender pathos of a ministry like Hosea's, or the fidemy and earnestness of a testimony like tha.t of .Amos, who bearded the highest in the land to bear witness against them (A.mos vii. 10)? Yet the people would not hear, but attributed their prosperity to their idols, and worshipped them more than ever, while immorality, violence, and the loosening of all bonds between man and man abounded more and more (Hos. iv. 1). III. THE EVE OF COLLAl'SE. Jeroboam died, and was succeeded by his son Zachariah. This was the fourth generation of the house of Jehu, and it will be seen that he reigned only six months. From this time Israel went rapidly to its ruin. The height of pros• perity reached in the reign of Jeroboam was but the last flicker of the light before final extinction. .A little over thirty years after Jeroboam's death-forty at most-th( words of the prophets were fulfilled, and the kingdom of Israel was destroyed, and it, people carried away by the Assyrian.-J. 0,
EXPOSITION. however, fortunately supplied by the writ<'. OHAPTER XV. of Chronicles. Azariab.'s reign, which hero Vera. 1-38.-REIGSS OF AZARIAH AND occupies only seven verses, in Chronicles JOTHA.111 OVER JUDAII; AND OF ZACHARIAH, fills an entire chapter (twenty-three ver~es). SHALLUM, MENA.REIii, PEH.AHLAli, AND PEIL\H (See 2 Chron. xxvi. 1-23.) O\'E" ISRAEL, Vere. 1-7.-THE REIGN OF AZARIAH OVEB Ver. 1.-In the twenty and seventh year Ji;oAH. The writer now more and more of Jeroboam Ring of Israel began Azariah eom presses his narrative. Into a single son of Amaziah Ring of Judah to reign. In ohupter he crowds the events of seven reigns, oh. xiv. 28 it is distinctly stated that Jeroboa.m's reign of forty-one years com• covering the space of nearly seventy years. menced in the fifteenth of Amaziah, who He is consequently compelled to omit soveral from that time lived only fifteen ye,us (oh. most important historioal evontii, which are xiv. 17). Eithe1·, therefore, Azariah must 296 .I.RE SECOND BOOK OF rHE: KINGS, [err. xv. 1-38,