Vers. 1-9.-The Icings of the 'royal line-David and Solomon: the lessons q/ their lives. Under the reign of David the kingdoms of Israel and Judah may be said to have been established. It was marked from first to last by conflict, war, and bloodiihed. Foes on every side, both hidden and open, had to be encountered, battle after battle to be fought. ln all this be stood alone, and thus stands before us as the type of Christ. He encountered all our spiritual foes. lie fought the great fight. "Oft the people there was none with him." All the powers r,f darkness were leagued against him. He endured the frown of man, and bore the wrath of God. He fought the fight and won the victory, and the kingdom of God was thus established in tlw Name of David's Son and Lord. In his sufferings in Gethsemane and on the cross he trod all the powers of darkness down, and in his resurrection from the dead God set his seal to the accomplishment of his work and the establishment of his spiritual kirwdom, against which the gates of hell can never prevail. Of him it could be said, as ;as said of David himself (see eh. xxii. 18), only in an infinitely higher sense, •• Rath he not given you rest on every side? for he bath given the inhabitants of the land into mine hand; and the land is subdued before the Lord, and before his people." But, though David may be said to Lave founded and established the kingdom, he was not permitted to build the house of God. 'l'his was to be Solomon's work. 'l'he kingdom, thus established, was passed over to him to erect in it the great temple of God, Sulomon, "the peaceful one," as his name signifies, was thns entrusted to comrlcte the on. nr. 1-24.] THE FinS1' BOOK OF THE CHRONIULES.
!(l'Cat work for which David had made all the preparation. Solomon follows David SJJiritually as surely as historically. It is bat the gospel story in another form. In these early chapters of this book we sec these names of David, Solomon, and Zedeki11h closely interwoven with those of the twelve tribes, or the entire family of God. They are, in fact, inseparable. As the "vine and the branches," they are one living tree. Not only is it true of David and Solomon spiritually, but of all Gou',i people-it is first conflict, then rest. It is through the former we enter into the latter. "Through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom." Only they who "fight the good fight of faith," who are the true soldiers of the cross, know how deep is the peace of God that becomes the portion of the soul. There is a peace which flows from the sight of a suffering Saviour bearing our sins. 'l'his is not the peace we mean. It is that peace which is the result of being true to Christ, living near to him, being wholly on his side-a marked man-who is not ashamed of his reproach. All this involves a daily, yea, hourly, conflict; and out of this God opens the channels of the soul fora peace to flow in which" passeth all understanding," and to which other Christians are strangers. But not only are David and Solomon the law of the kingt!om of God,-it is the law of all things. Before the peace always goes the sword. This was our Lord's teaching when he said, "I am not come to send peace, but a swort!." Peace follows. The storm and tempest are absolutely necessary to purify the air. To thc3e both spring and summer owe their beauty. It is first the sorrow and then the joy that is the order of life. "The evening and the morning were the first day," and seem on the very first page of God's Word to reflect this truth. Through the evening the world still passes to its mornings. The first chapter of Genesis is all sunlight. But what a deep, dark cloud passes over all the book of God, what a history of sin and sorrow, crying and tears, till we reach its close, and then the sun rises again, never more to go down ! \Vo might go on to show how all life is full of this law; but this will suffice to help the reader's further thoughts. And as every stone of Solomon's temple rested on the work David had finished, and the preparation he had made, so do all the "living stones" of God's spiritual temple rest on the finished work of Christ, and everything really substan- tial on his conflict, struggle, and cross. And peace deeper than anything Solomon's reign could shadow forth fills their souls, even that peace which was his gilt to all his people when he said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto:you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you."-W.
Vers. 10-24.-King~ of the royal line-Zedekiah: the lesson of his life. The portraiture of the Holy Spirit would be incomplete without that of Zedekiah. In him we see how every work of God may be unt!one, how the fairest fabric may become a wreck. If in David and Solomon we have that which will encourage, we have here a note of solemn warning. What is the lesson thus solemnly taught? That sin undid all the work of David and Solomon. Sin ruined the kingdom, and lay desolate tho temple of God. And in what did that sin consist? In that which is the fertile source of all sin-idolatry. Idolatry is the heart going after something else than God. It~ gross form is image-worship. Its more refined and general form is the love of somethiug lower than Christ. 'fhe latter is the ~ui!tier, because done under greater light. Fro1" this single source everything follows -loss of peace, darkness of soul, weakness of intellect, immorality of life, judicial blindness, and the entire spiritual wreck of every- thing, whether it be in an individual soul or in a nation. Let God bo supplantctl, and there is no abyss into which one and the other will not ultimately fall. God's first law to Israel was," Thou shalt have none other gods before me;" an,! it is bis first law still. Well might the beloved apostle say," Littlo children, keep yourselves from it!ols." The utter ruin of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and the desolation of the temple, had one source, consummated by Zedekiah-idolatry. 'fhis brought down upon them that wrath of God which has been resting like a dark cloud on the nation ever since. If David and Solomon show us how we may pass through conflict tu peace, Zedekiah shows us how we may pass from it all to utter desolation. Needful warning to complete this spiritual picture.-W. Ver. 4.-Duvid's douule reign. The important fact is recalled t0 mind that D~vi,l's reign was divided into two parts; for some sevcu years anti a. half he reigned ovcl' a 40 TRE FIRST BOOK OF Tilt CtlRONICLES. [ell. 1n. 1-24,