The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 279

tion of his idolatry, submission to the Divine will, and invocation of the Almighty's help; but he followed whet appeared to him the expedient, not the right, and hence two evils ensued. (1) He degraded himself. He sold himself as a slave to the king whose help he invoked. "I am thy servant and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the King of Syria." What more dishonourable thing can a man do than to renounce his independence and become the slave of another ? He loses his self-respect, which is the very essence of true manhood. (2) He impoverished hill people. "And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present to the King of Assyria." This silver and gold belonged to the nation. It was public property. Wbt right had he to dispose of a fraction? No right whatever. Alas! it i.s not uncommon for kings to rob their people, consume what they have never produced, live on tin property of others, and thus impoverish their subjects! What happened with Ahaz Eust happen with all, in the long-run, who pursue the expedient rnther than the right. The right alone is truly expedient. II. THE PRIESTHOOD. Urijah is the priest. There seems to have been more priests than one of this name, and little is known of this Urijah more than what is recorded in the present chapter. He was the priest, who at this time presided in the temple of Jerusalem. He seems to have been influential in the state, and, although a professed monotheist, was in far too close connection with Ahaz the idolatrous king. Two thingd are worthy of note concerning him, which too frequently characterize wicked priests in all times. 1. .An obsequious obedience to the royal will. The Assyrian king, having taken Damascus, is visited by Ahaz in the city, the object of his visit being, no doubt, to congratulate him on his triumphs. While at Damascus, Ahaz is struck with the beauty of an altar. He seems to have been so charmed with it that he commands Urijah, the priest, to make one exactly like it. "And King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workman- ship thereof." Knowing the king's wishes, with shameful obsequiousness he sets to the work. "And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against King Ahaz came from Damascus. And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king approached to the altar, and offered thereon." This obffequious priest not only di<! this, but, without one word of protest or reproof, he witnessed the sacri- fices of the king at the altar, and allowed the position of the brazen altar in the temple to be altered; further, he actually engaged, according to the king's command, in the services. "And King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king's burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offerings of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice; and the brazen altar shall be for me to inquire by. Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that King Ahaz commanded." Thus wicked priests have too often acted. 2. .An obsequious •ilence to the royal profanation. See what the king did, no doubt in the presence of the priest. "And King Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the !aver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brazen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones. And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he from the house of the Lord for the King of Assyria." This fawning, sacerdotal traitor not only " did according to all King Ahaz commanded," but he stood by silently and witne~scd without a word of protest this spoliation of the holy temple. Had he acted acconling to his profession as a minister of the most high God, he would have risen up in all thfl sternness of honesty and manhood against the first intimation of .Ahaz concerning the construction of au unauthorized altar. He would ha,e said, "\Ve have a divinely sanctioned altar already; we do not need another." And when the command came to him to make such an altar, he would have felt it an insnlt to his conscience, an outrage on his loyalty to Heaven, and have broken into thunders of reproof. ·when he saw the king's hand employed in disturbing and altering the furniture of the temple, he would have resisted him, as Azariah resisted Uzziah when he wished to offer incense. But instead of this, he, like some of his class in almost every age, seems to have been 326 THE SECOND BOOK OF 'fHE KINGS. [ OB, XVI, 1-20,