The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 244

one tribe became tho king of Israel. The discharge of the duties of the former oflico maclo those of the l1ittor !PRS arduous. Apply this to the preparation of men for the nobler rule of h,li1ven, by the exercise of powers for God in the earthly sphere. III. THE PERILS OF WORLDLY succEss. 1. In.gratitude. J erobpam fostered ill- feeling against Solomon in Ephraim till he was expelled the kingdom. Men often kick away the ladder by which they rose to fortune. Give examples. Tq~ wish to forget the past in which they wanted help, and to attribute to their o#n 'sliill what came from the kindness of others, tempts to this. Even poor parents have been 11:lft uncared for by prosperous children. • 2. Impatience. Jeroboam was to have the kingdom, as Ahijah told him, but he could not wait for Solomon's death. His first exaltation and the words of the 11rophet aroused greed and ambition which would not be stayed. A man who has known nothing but success is more impatient than are others at a disappointment or difficulty, It is harder for him than for one trained in the school of adversity to say, "Not my will, but Thine be done." His is seldom the" meek and quiet spirit" which is, in the sight of God, of great price. 3. Rebellion against God. He heard from Ahijah's lips these words of God about Solomon-" I will make him prince all the days of his life ; " yet during his life Jeroboam tried to dethrone him. Compare this conduct with that of David towards Saul. The contrast is the more remarkable because of the provocation David received, and because the son of Jesse, unlike the son of Nebat, had been actually anointed king. He had no right to seize what God had promised to give. Jacob learnt this lesson in the house of Laban. In this disregard, or defiance, of God was the germ of Jeroboam's ruin. His rule was (like Solomon's) conditional on obedience to the Divine will (compare ver. 38 wit!.: ix. 4--6). Stability depends on God; the seen on the unseen. No cleverness, no diligence, no human help can bring lasting prosperity to a soul, or to a nation, which forsakes righteousness and forgets God.-A. R. Vers. 29-36; chs. xiv. 21-81; xvi. 1, 2, 25, 26.-The judgments of God on Judah and Israel from the death of Solomon to the time of Ahab. The separation of the people of God into two kiogcloms was a punish1mmt for the idolatry of Solomon ; but from this punishment Goel brought forth goocl, for it was well that the pride of the Jews should not be fostered by unmixed prosperity. It would have formed a far stronger barrier to the gospel in after times if it had not been thllS early brolten. After the separation of the two kingdoms, idolatry more or less gross preve.iled in both, with brief intervals of return to the worship of the true Goel. This fearful moral declension is traceable to a great extent to the foll of Solomon. Sin is thus always the parent of after evil. He who rebels against God leaves behind him the influence of his example, and gives fresh force to the current of evil. Gotl ma,de both kingdoms feel, during this period, repeated strokes of His cbnstising hand. Tlieir history is a history of tears and blood. Every fresh sin, the bitter outgrowth of former transgressions, becomes a source of new calamities. The hard Asiatic tyra,nny of Rehoboam leads to the rending of the kingdom. The erection of a half-pagan sanctua,ry ente.ils upon Jeroboam and his race the ca,tastrophes which issue in their ruin. Th~ history of the Jews during this period, therefore, presents the aspect of one long: Judgment of God, in which sin bnogs forth death and thus becomes its own pums~me~t (James i.15). This is true olso in the history of individuals; and we have m tins fact one of the strongest evidences that we are uuder the government of a holy God. Let us never forget that His holiness is ut the same timo love, and tlmt through all the dC1rk 1tnd sorrowful vicissitudes of our lifo He is carrying out His plan of mercy. In spite of all its falls, its wanderings, and its woes, Israel did fulfil its preparatory mission. If in the end the theocmcy tottered to its fall, this failure also entered into tho conditions of the Divine plan. Israel was nover treated by God, however, 11s a m~re passive instrument. God gave it repeated warnings, as, for example, by the mouth of the unknown prophet who was sent to Jeroboam to decl111·e to hlm the jndgments of God (eh. xiii.)-E. cle P. 246 THE FIRST BOOK OF RINGS. [ OB. XI. 14-48.