Ver. 6.-The Kvng confronted by the Prophit. Jeroboam is not e.llawed to pursue hie iniquitous career without solemn Divine rebuke e.nd warning. Tho~ Rehoboam !ms been forbidden to attempt forcibly to suppress the revolt of the tribes (eh. xii 24), a "man of God out of Judah" is sent sternly to denounce the rival altar, and to give the sacrilegious king something like a symbolic forewarning of the disasters that should Blll'ely befall him. The scene, described here with so ruuc,h simplicity and dramatic force, is full of moral instruction. I In the person of the king we see THE llELPLESSNESS OF A WICKED MAN IN THE HANDS OF AN OFFENDED GoD, The physical associations and the mental conditions here presented are alike suggestive of this. It is a striking picture of restrained infatuation and impotent rage. 1. The kvng's withered arm tells how God can in a moment turn the strength that is used against Him to weakness. " When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity," &c. (Pee.. xxxix. 11). 2. The rent altar suggests the certain frustration, sooner or later, of the purposes and plans of those that are at enmity with God. "The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought,'' &c. (Pea. xxxiii. 10). "If this counsel or this work be of man," &c. (Acts v. 38). 8. The king's inabilit1J to pray for himself reminds us how God some- times forsakes those who forsake Him, so that it seems utterly vain for them to call upon Him. Many a man has felt like Saul, " I am sore distressed, and God is departed from me,'' &c. (1 Sam. xxviii. Hi). 4. His appeal to the prophet to inter- cede for him is typical of the way in which ungodly men are often con trained by force of circumstance to seek succour from those whom they have despised. " The wheel of fortune turns and lowers the proud,'' and they are placed, perhaps, at the mercy of the very men whom they once scorned and injured. Such are the penal- ties that God often inflicts on those who trifle with His authority and defy His power. Such is the curse that falls upon "presumptuous sin.'' II. The behaviolll' of the prophet presents A FINE EXAMPLE OF MORAL DIGNITY AND CONSCIOUS STRENGTH, See here-(!) The courage of a man who knows that God is on his side. The prophets of old, conscious of a more majestic Presenco and a higher Sovereignty, never trembled before the face of wicked kings. Tho fear of God casts out all other fear. "Be not afraid of them that kill the body," &c. (Luke xii. 4, 6). "If God be for us," &o. (Rom. viii. 31). (2) The mag- nanimity of one who feels that he is called to witness for God among men. The prophet will not take advantage of the king's helpnessness; rather responds at once to his appeal. He who is inspired by God's Spirit will not return scorn for scorn, or retaliate an attempted injury, but rather use for beneficent ends the power that he possesses. "Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of," &c. (Luke ix, 64, 66), (3) The efficacy of the prayer of a righteous man. The withered arm is restored, and though this had no happy moral effect, as might have been expected, on Jeroboam, the whole transaction, in which mercy was thus blended with judgment, vindicated the honour of Jehovah, and established a.fresh His sovereign claim to the allegiance alike of king and people.-W. Vere. 1-10.-1. THE PRETENSIONS OF ERROR DEEPEN ITS SHAJrE. The idolatrous altar was being solemnly consecrated. The people's eyes were dazzled with the eplen • dour of the priestly and regal display. Jeroboam himself stood by the altar to offer incense. And then the ory arose whioh arrested every ear and thrilled through every soul. 1. The attempt to give importance to tho new idolatry only broadenea the marlcfor God's rebuke: it simply lent emphasis to His condemnation. They had oome to consecrate, and had reo.lly come to attend upon God while He dese- crated the work of their hands. Heathenism in its splendour thus rebuked by the preaching of the oross, Rome by the light of the Reformation. 2. The agent by whom God's glory was vindicated, The ineignifioance of the poor, weary, trnvel- etained man. deepened their disgrace. " God ha.th chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things whioh 11,re mighty." II. THE DOOM OF IDOLATROUS WORSHIP. 1. Tho altar will be desecrated. The place will be madd an abomination and horror. Sin's judgment will in the end be 294 THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. [en. xm. 11-84.
sin's destruction. 2. The sin will be 1oiped o,d in the blood and shame of those who have 1orought it. The priests will be offered upon the altar, the bones of its worshippers burned upon it. The world's sin will bo ended in God's fiery jndg- ment upon the sinful. 3. The certainty of God's pm-pose. Centuries intervened betweE'n the prediction and the fulfilment, but all wns nrrnnged. The time was fixed, the avenger nllJiled. There is no uncertainty in God's mind reglll'ding the end of iniquity. The decree has been recorded, the time fixed, THE MAN named by whom He will judge the world in righteousness. 4. The sign meanwhile given. The altar was rent and its ashes poured out. The wrn.th revealed from henven now is proof that all God's purpose shall be fulfilled. III. MAN'S INABn.ITY TO CONTEND WITH Goo. 1. The withered arm. The arm outstretched in eager, wrathful command to arrest the man of God, withered in the very attitude. It was the emblem of his house and of his people ; they were withered in the attitude of rebellion against God. 2. The prophet's safety. He needed none to shield him. God protects all those who serve Him. 3. Jeroboam's humiliati-On. He turns from idol and altar and priests, and requests the prophet's intercession with Jehovah. 4. His a1·m is restored at the prophet's request, and he thus bears in his person another token that the word he has heard is from God. It is the story of God's contest with darkness and wrong to-day. IV. SEP.IB.ATION ESSENTIAL FOR TESTIMONY. • Jeroboam's hospitality and reward were alike refosed. The prophet was even forbidden to return by the same.way: he was not to enter e,en into acquaintance with men who were sinning so deeply against God. Unless there be separation our testimony is a sham. Our life un- says our speech. If we will speak God's word to the sinful, our attitude must reveal their distance from God and the peril in which they stand, If our own lleart be filled with holy fear it may pass from 1lB to tllem.-J. U.
EXPOSITION.