The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 273

sorrow overmuch, or to regard themselves as culpable. 'fhe infinences which go t,o form each man's character are countless, and with hundreds c,f them a parent has notbin~ to do. Again, there is "the personal equation." There do seem to be some who, "as soon as they are born, go astray and speak lies." It is amonO' the mysteries of man's existence here on earth that natural dispositions should so gre~tly vary. No parcn t of many chil<lren but knows, by certain experience, that this is so. One child gives no trouble, and scarcely requires any guidance. Another is wilful, perverse, headstrong, almost devoid of good impulses, and full of inclination to evil, Parents are answerable for neglect, for unwisdom, above all for bad example; but they need not ftar, if they earnestly ewleavour to do their duty by their children, that in God's just judgment the iniquity of their children will be imputed to them. "'!'he son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the ini,quily of the son" (Ezek. xviii. 20); "'l'be soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezek. xviii. 4). Ill. THAT CffiLDREN WHO HAVE BEEN DELIGIOUBLY BROUGHT UP, IF THEY TURN TO EVIL COUDSEB, INOUB A FEARFUL RESPONSIBILITY. "It had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them" (2 Pet. ii. 21). If children, not- withstanding a godly training, take to an evil life, what must we suppose that they would have done had they been born, as so many are, amidst adverse influences, and from infancy exposed to contact with indecency, drunkenness, blasphemy? Alas! every blessing abused becomes a curse; and to have a pattern of goodness before our eyes, to have virtue instilled into us, and then to reject it-to choose the evil and refuse the good-is to provoke God's heavy displeasure, and· bring down his severe judgmcnts upon us. What excuse can snch persons offer for their misconduct? They know that by sin they displease God, grieve their parents, injure themselves, ruin their worldly prospects, imperil their salvation; yet for a little present pleasure they shut their eyes to all future consequences, and rush to their destruction. Their conduct is folly, ma<l.- ness, idiocy; but not the sort of madness which shuts out responsibility. They are answerable for it, and will have to answer at God's judgment-seat. Oh! that they would pause ere it is too late, recognize the folly of their evil courses, and" put away their iniquity" I God is sr-ill willing to pardon all whom he suffers to live. Let them •• arise, and go to their l<'ather," and say unto him, " We have sinned ; " and he will go out to meet them, and receive them, and "there will be joy in the presence of the angels of God over each such sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance" (Luke xv. 7, 10). Vera. 5-,-7.-God's punishments of a nation's sins are often long delayed, but, when they come, it is not by degrees, but suddenly, violently, and at once. This suhject may best be treated, as the last, under three heads, viz. (1) the sins of Judah, which had provoked God; (2) the long delay in their punishment; and (3) the suddenness and overwhelming force with which the punishment came at last. I. THE SINS o~· JuDAH. '!'hough, on the whole, less guilty than her sister, Ephraim, still Judah had, from the division of the kingdom of Solomon, been more or less unfaithful to Jehovah in several respects. 1. An unauthorized and illegitimate high- place worship, tinged with superstition and perhaps even idolatry, had maintaine,l its place by the side of the.authorized Jehovah-cult, throughout the whole period of the divided monarchy, from the accession of Rehoboam to the <leath of Ahaz (1 Kings xiv. 23; xv. 14; xxii. 43; eh. xii. 3; xiv. 4; xv. 4, 35; xvi, 4). 2. '!'ha worship of Baal had been introduced from the sister kingdom by the influence of .Athaliah, and had prevailed during the reigns of her husbat1d, Jeboram, her son, .Ahaziah, and her own (eh. viii. 18, 27; xi. 18), 3. Luxury and effeminacy had crept in, especially duri.ng the prosperous reigns of Uzziah and Jotham, and ha,l kd on to debauchery and licentiousness (Isa. i. 4; ii. 6-8; iii. 16-l:!4; v. 11, 12; Joel i. 5; Amos vi. 1-6, etc.). 4. Injustice and oppression had become rife. '!'he rich men sought to "join house to house, and field to field" (Isa. v. 8); they stripped the poor of their small properties by legal chicanery (Isa. iii. 14), oppressed them, and "grouncl their faces" ~ls,. iii. 15). 'l'he judges in the courts accepted bribes (Isa. i. 23) and gave wrong judgmentH (Isa. v. 23). Widows and orphans wcro tho special objects of attack, on 11,:couut of their wenkness and defencelessness (Isa. i. 17, 23; x. 2). 5. The forms 0r  820 THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. [OH. XVI, 1--20.