meaning is, "Have they delivered their prob11,ble, sin ea auch e.n outrageous course &I several cities, or hRB the god of Samaria the.t which Rabshakeh had pursued oan deli'l"ered his oity out of my hand?" No sORrcely have been expeoted, god hRd hit.herto delivered any oity which Ver. 37.-Then oame Eliakim the aon of the ABBvrie.ns had attacked. Jlilkie.h, whioh we.s over the household, and Ver. 35.-Who e.rethey among all the goda Shebna the soribe, and J"oah the aon of Allaph of the oountries-i.11. the countries with the reoorder, to Ke1ekiah with their olothea whi~h Assvria had been at war-that have rent. They had rent their olothes, not so delivered their oountry out of mine hand, muoh in grief or in alarm, as in horror that the Lord ahonld deliver J"eruaa.lem out e.t Rabshakch's blasphemies. They were of mine hand t "Produce an example of blasphemies, no doubt, nl'ising from "in- deliverance," Rabsbakeh mea.ns to say," be- viuci ble ignomnce," an<l. not intended nY fore yon speak of dclivemnce as probable, insults to the one Almighty Being who or emu possible. If you cannot, relinquish rules the earth, of whose existenoe Rab- the hope, and submit yourselves." Rah- she.keh had probo.bly no conception; but sbakr-h cannot conceive the idea that Je- they struok on Jewish ears as insults to bornh is anything but a looal god, on a par. Jehovah, e.nd therefore as dree.dful and witl.i al I the other gods of the oountries. horrible (comp. Gen. xxxvii. 29; 1 Sam. iv. Ver. 36. -But the people held their peaoe, 12; 2 Sam. i. 2; Ezra ix. 3, etc.). And told and answered him not a word. All Rab- him the words of B.abshakeh ; reported to sbakeh's efforts to produce open dieaffection him, i.e. as nearly as they could, all that failed. What.ever impr<'ssion his arguments Rabshakeh had so.id. The three envoys may have made, no indication was given would supplement, e.nd perhaps ooi:rect, one that they had produced any. If, then, he another; and Hezekiah would have con- had hoped to bring about a mutiny, or even veyed to him a full and, on the whole, axe.et to creare a disturbance, he was disa.ppoint.ed. account of the messe.ge sent to him through :For the king's commandment was, saying, Rabshakeh by the Assyrian king, and of Allswer him not. Hezekiah had either an- Rabshakeh's method of enforcing it. The ticipated Rabshakeh's tactics, and given crisis of Hezekiah's life was reached. As an order beforehand that no word should be he acted under it would be fixed his own uttered, or he had promptly met them by fate, his character in the judgment of e.11 sending such an order, on learning Rab- fnture time, a.nu the fate of his own country. shakeh's proceedings, The latter is more
HOMILETICS. Ver. 4.-Iconoclasm right or 'IDf'<Yng, ;'udicious or injudiciow, according to circum- stances. The destruction of the brazen serpent of Moses by Hezekiah has always been a favourite argument with extreme iconoclasts for their extreme views. In the time of Henry VIIL, and still more in that of Cromwell, statuary was destroyed or mutilated, precious pictures were burnt, priceless stained-glass windows were shivered to atoms, by those with whom a main justification of their conduct was the example of Hezekiah, Let that example, then, be considered, both in respect of what Hezekiah did, and of what be did not do. L WHAT HEZEKIAH DID. 1. He removed the high places, which were distinctly contrary to the Law, since the Law allowed sacrifice in one place only-before the ark of the covenant, in the tabernacle, or at Jerusalem. 2. He brake down the "images," or idolatrous emblems of Baal-mere pillara probably, which were the objects of an actual worship. a. He cut down the groves, or idolatrouH emblems of Ashtorcth- " sacred trees," also the objects of worship. 4. He brake in pieces the brazen serpent, to which the Israelites had for some time been in the habit of offering incense. IL WHAT HEzEXIAB DID NOT DO. Hezekiah did not understand the second com- mandment in any other sense than Solomon. He allowed the ministry of art to religion. Be JeU untouched the carved figures of cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers u(JOn the walls of the temple (1 Kings vi. 29). He left untouched the brazen 1.e.vers, on the borders of which were lions, oxen, and cherubim (1 Kings vii. 29). He probably restored to their pla.ce, he certainly d!-d not destroy, the t~elve .?xen (Jer. lli. 20) which Solomon had made to support his "brazen sea" (1 Kmgs vn. 25), and which Ahaz had removed from the temple (eh. :xvi. 17). He himself added to the gold ornamentation of the doors and pillars (eh. xviii. 16). It is evide11;t, therefore, that Hezekia.h's iconoclasm was limited to those objects which were bemg actually OR. xvm. 1-37,] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. 36'1