The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 318

14. " And all Israel shall mourn for him" (ver, 13). The most, and tho most genuine, tears are shed over the graves of children. (Is it that many of us, as we grnw older, become less lovely and engaging, less desirable as companions l') Yet of this child it might justly have been said," Weep ye not for the dead 1 neither bemoan him" (J er. x:xii. 10). For (1) he was taken away from the evil to come (ver. 11). (2) He escaped the butchery of Ba:isha, And he escaped, too, the danger of contamination and moral ruin. His life was not unduly shortened. Life is to be measured not by the beats of the pulse, but by the life-work we have accomplished. " He being made perfect in a short time fulfilled a. long time.'' " It ma.y be by the oa.lende.r of years Yon a.re the elder man; but 'tis the snn Of knowledge on the mind's dial shining bright And chronicling deeds and thonghts that makes true time." (3) The '' good thing toward the Lord God of Israel" was an earnest of better things to come. "Little faith can enter heaven." "A little grace goes a great way with great people." "Those that are good in bad times and places shine very bright in the eyes of God. A good child in the house of Jeroboam is a miracle of Divine grace " (Henry). 15. "For the Lord shall smite Israel'' (ver. 15). For if Jeroboam had "made Israel to sin," Israel had loved to have it so (eh. xii. 30). He could not have had his calves and sanctuaries without priests; and calves, sanduaries, and priests would have been useless without worshippers. But as the king, so the people. Jeroboam was but a sample of many thousands of his subjects. As the chief offender, he was the first to suffer, and suffered most. But the nation that had shared his sin must suffer in its measul"e and turn. 16. '' Beyond the river" (ib.) The judgments of God are governed by a lea, talionis. Not only "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," but, "Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours" (J er. v. 19). 17. "And Jeroboam'a wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah" (ver. 17), It is hardly possible to realize the horror with which the princess, still wearing her disguise, heard the doom of her house, and who shall attempt to describe the agonies of that journey home. Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah (2 Sam. xxi. 10 sqq.), has been called the Mater Doloroaa of the Old Testament, but the title equally belongs to J eroboam's wife. But why, let us ask, does ahe suffer such things l' Why must this sword pierce her soul l' Was it not because of her share in the sin? AE, she is included in the sentence against the house (ver. 11, Heh.), it is probable that she had aided and abetted her husband in his irreligious and schismatic policy, And now she must drink of his cup: she must be the first to taste its bitterness; she must bring death to one child and tell of disgrace worse than death to the rest. 18. "And they buried him" (ver. 18). In Tirzah the beautiful (Cant. vi. 4), great lamentation was made over him. And indeed his seemed to be a case for tears, The heir to the throne, he was never to ascend it. The possessor of singular gifts and advantages, he was never to exercise the former or enjoy the latter. Had he lived, be might have effected a reformation, and suppressed the calf-worship. But now the grave closes over him, and he is no more seen. What a proof this of a life to come! Otherwise there would be injustice with God, inequality in His dealings with men. " But the righteous live for evermore, their reward also is with the Lord.'' "We fools counted his life madness and his end to be without honour. How is he numbered among the children of God, and his lot is among the saints" (Wisdom v. 4, 6, 16). OD XIV, 1-20.] THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 821