The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 414

HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Ver. 31--ch. xxiv. 7.-Two royal 'brothers: the reigns of Jehoah<J8 and Jehoia'ldm. I. THEY WERE BROTHERS IN WIOKEDNEss. Of each of them it is said, "He did evil in the sight of the Lord." What the particular sins of Jehoahaz were we are not told. But the sins of Jehoiakim are fully and fearlessly stated and denounced by Jeremiah. "Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work ; that sa.ith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows ; and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. . . . Thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it" (Jer:xxil.13-17). Injustice, fraudulence, selfishness, covetousness, oppression, violence, murder,-such were the main character- istics of him who should have been an example of the people. Selfishness and cove- tousness were at the bottom of all the rest. And are they not common sins ? In the rich they lead to injustice and oppression; in the poor they lead to discontent and envy and violence. The spirit of the gospel, by promoting unselfishness, would lead to fair and upright dealing between man and man. IT. THEY WERE BOTH WIOXED, THOUGH THE SONS OF A GOOD FATHER. Even a good man may have bad sons. Perhaps the home training they received was defective. Josiah may have been so much engrossed with the cares of hie kingdom, and the reformation of his people, that he neglected the state of his own household. But nevertheless, they had e. good example, which they neglected to follow. Jeremiah reminds Jehoie.kim of this. "Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord" (Jer. xxii. 15, 16). The privileges and the example they had received increased their guilt. "To whom much is given, of him shall much be required." If we have great privileges, we have also great responsibilities. Those who have been brought up in a Christian land or in e. godly home will be expected to know better than those who have been brought up in a heathen coontry or amid careless and godless surroundings. fil THEY WERE BOTH WICK.ED, THOUGH THE ONE HAD THB OTHER'S FATE AS A WARNING. Jehoe.haz was sent into exile for his sins. Yet Jehoie.kim, who succeeded him, did not profit by the warning. None of us are without many warnings against sin. We have the plain warnings of God's Word. We have the terrible warnings of his providence. How fearful, even in this life, are the conseq uencee of many sins I We have warnings against putting off the offer of salvation to a more convenient see.son. "See that ye refuse not him that speaketh." IV. THEY BOTH HAD A MISERABLE END. Jehoahaz died in ezile. Pharo.oh-Nechoh put him in prison at Riblah, and he died in captivity. Speaking of him, Jeremiah says, "Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away : for he shall return no more, nor see hie native country" (Jer. xxii. 10). What e. pathetic strain I The love of the Jews for their native land was most intense. "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" " Yee., we wept, when we remem- bered Zion." But, after all, what a profitless kind of patriotism theirs was I They loved their native land, but they were blind to its best interests. They did not remember the secret of true prosperity and well-being. They did not remember that "righteousness exe.lteth a nation, but sin is e. reproach to any people." They forsook him who was their nation's best Defender and unfailing Friend. A patriotism without riiht.eousnell6 will not benefit a nation much. Jehoialdm dud at Jerusalem. Bui on. xxm. 1-37.J THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. 465