The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 300

kind as to the doom of the unfaithful people of God. In his encl, men might see a fore-shadowin,: of their nation's, if it should persevere in the worship of the calves. !<'or they woultl assw-edly remember, as they pondered this history, that as this prophet of J ndah was a man of God, precisely so was Israel the people of God (eh. viii. 43, 52, 66; xiv. 7; Levit. xxvi. 12; Deut. xxvi. 18). As he was to other men, so was Isntel to other nations. Was he elect of God and precious? So were they. Had he a mission? So had they. Had God spoken to him? He had also spoken to them, and moreover, had given them a charge not unlike his. For it is to be also considered that God bad plainly spoken to Israel on this very subject of Divine worship. At the very threshold of the Decalogue, at the hen.cl of " the words of the coven:mt," stood the charge, "Thou shalt have none other gods but me. Thou shalt not make to thyself any gn,Yen image," &c. A.nd it is to be noted here that these words stauu si,le by side with the formula," I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the lnnd of Egypt "-the very wor,ls which Jeroboam had cited in insLituting his new mode of worship; the very cry which had been raised before when Isrnel marle its first golden calf (Exod. xxxii. 8). It is almost certain, there- fore, tlmt these initial words of the covenant had been lately and forcibly recalled to their minds. But in any case they could not be ignorant that their forefathers had been expressly charged to make no similitude, no graven or molten image (Levit. xxn. 1 ; Deut. iv. 16, 25; v. 8; nvii. 15, &o.) And this commo,ndment. too, like the message of that morning, had been confirmed with signs following. The blackness, narkness, tempest, trwnpet, fire, all these had attested that revela- tion of God's will. It might possibly occw- to some of their minds, therefore, that when the first protest against a corrupt following of the true God was raised, He "gave a sign the so.me day." Such, then, was the commandment given to Israel. It was as explicit, as authori- tative as that which this dead prophet had recentlyreceived. But oflate a new teacher had appeared amongst them, in the person of their king, who presumed to counter- mand this la,w of the Almighty. We are not told, indeed, that Jeroboam claimed to be prophet as well as priest, but we find him acting as one, and received as one. It is hardly likely that he laid claim to any revelation from on high. He was not the man to pretend to visions of angels. It was his contention that he was re- verting to the old form of religion, but that was all. At the same time, he was the great false prophet of the Ohl Testament. Just as Moses was the giver of the l::i.:w, just as Elias was its restorer, so was Jeroboam its depraver. Precisely what the lying prophet taught the man of God, that had be taught the people of God, viz., that God's command was somehow abrogated. Prophet of Bethel and priest-king of Bethel were alike in this, that each met the Divine," Thou shalt not," with the human, " Thou shalt." There was this difference between them, that the first inculcated disobedience to but one command, whilst the second contravened a. whole system ; but this very divergeuce would make the parallel all the more impressive. " If,'' they would argue, " if a prophet, a doer of signs and wonders, died without mercy because he listened to the voice of a brother prophet-who swore that he had received a revelation concerning him-and so was betrayed into breaking one commandment, of how much sorer punishment Bhall those be thought worthy who at the mere word of their king, albeit he claimed no spiritual authority, and acted from political motives only, reject the gracious covenant of heaven, con- firmed by many signs, and go after false gods," &c. There were some, no doubt, would see in the corpse borne to its burial that day a foreshadowing of the more terrible judgment then hanging over their own heads. And so we find this prophet of Judah bas not lived or suffered in vain. His death, like that of Samson, wrought even more effectnally than his life. He was set forth as it were a1Jpointed to death (1 Cor. iv. 9). He silently and unconsciously mirrored forth the sin and the punishment of a disobedient people. It now only remains for us to indicate briefly how the o.nalogy between man of God and people of God received its completion in the punishment which befell the latter. The punishment of the prophet was death ; of the people, whose sin was much greater, death and superadded infamy. We see this- OH. :UII, 11-84.] THE FU1.ST BOOK OF KINGS. 303