Vers. 21-33. I. A:N ERROR THAT COULD NOT BE REPA.IRED (vers. 21-24). Reho- boam had zeal and strength behind him in his attempt to bring back the tribes by force. One hundi·ed and eighty thousand men responded to his call; but aU were dispersed at the lifting up of God's hand. The attempt was forbidden, 1. Because of the ties of kindred. These were f@rgotten by Rehoboam when he threatened the people with a heavier yoke. Tyranny is possible only in the denial of the brotherhood of man. It was forgotten now as he gathered his hosts together. Wars are impossible in the recognition of the brotherhood of man. This is God's word to the nations, to England as to the rest: "Ye shall not . . . ,fight against J'Our brethren.'' 2. Because the loss was of God. "This thing is from Me.'' These two thoughts assuage anger and beget repentance; they who are against us are Olll' brethren, and the blow is from our Father's Land. Our mistakes are per- mitted, and we eat their bitter fruit in God's righteous judgment. Keep the way of lo,e and lowly dependence on God. Every other is full of mistake and irre- parable loss. II. THE BLINDNESS OF WORLDLY POLICY (vers. 25-33). Jurlged from a merely human standpoint, Jeroboam showed comml!ndable foresight, and took effectual precautions against a great and possible danger. Yet he did not look for enough or high en'Jugh. The range of his vision did not embrace the mightiest of all forces. It shut out God, and every step he took ensured the destruction of the power be sought to guard. 1. Hia fear was unbelief There did seem to be a danger in the recourse of the tribes to Jerusalem, but he hn,d God's promise that He wonlcl build him a sure house if he would do that which was right in God's eight (xi. 38). Do not our fears go right in the face of the promises of God? 2. It was base forgetfulness of God's mercy. The Lord had fulfilled part of what He had said. The very circumstances in which the fear a.rose (the possession of the kingdom) were thus its answer. Our fears not only deny God's promisos, but also the testimony of the past. Unbelief and ingratiLnde are the first steps in the path of sin (Rom. i. 21). 8. His defiance of God. When unbelief has shut Him out of the heart, His commandments are lightly esteemed. To suit the exigencies of state, God's ordinances were overturned, other holy places were set up, the commandment against image-worship broken, the priesthood and the feast- time changed. Jeroboam's sin lives still in our statecraft, in the conduct of our Lusiness, &c. God's purpose regarding us and the worlcl is nothing I His com- rna.ndments are the only things that with safety can bo clisrego.rded ! 4. His mia- ,1,, ,dad ingenuity. He cleverly takes advantage (1) of the jealousy of the tribes. l/J..iy llhould Jernsalem be the only holy place, or Levi the one servant of God? OB. Xll, 25-811.] THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 269
(2) He only repeats the sin, and quotes the words, of Aaron, and the f~the:s. (Exod. xxxii. 4). (8) He uses places alreadr consecrated, B~~):iel by Jacobs ~s10n and altar and Dan the shrine of Micah's image (Judg. xvrn. 80). (4) He hides zeal for his own safety under the plea of car~ for the people's convenience (ver. 28). Misused ability cannot shield from God's JUdgment•. In every step h~ to?k he w~s the more surely sealing his own doom, and ensunng the finaJ extinction of his 1,cople. "Be not decoivetl, God is not mocked."-U.
EXPOSITION.