[Sometimes "the Geba," i.e., height; in fnl supply of water in case of_ e. siege " Josh. xviii. 24, Gaba; now Jeba, only 45' (Ewe.Id), me.y yet be brought to light. north-enst of Ilamah. Thie was the northern Ver. 23.-Alld the rest of all the acts or limit of the southern kingdom (2 Kings As.a, and all his might [see 2 Cbron. xiv., xxiii. 8). It occupied a striking poRition, xv.), and all that he did, ancl the cities eto.nding on a rocky knoll on the south side which he built [during the peace in the of the great gorge of Michmash (now known earlier part of his reign (2 Cbron. xiv. 5, 6)), as tho Wiidy Suweinit), a '.' great ~ack or a.re they not written 1n the book of the fissure in the country, with vertical pre- chronicles of the k1ngs of Judah? Never- cipices some 800 feet high " (Conder, p. theless [Heh. only. There was one exception 254; cf. _Diet. Bib., i. p. 658 and Porter, i. to his otherwise happy and prosperous reign l p. 214). As Geba wonld command the pass, 1n the time of his old age [see notes on eh. it is easy to understand why Aee. fortified i. 1; xi. 4. "Old age" means here, as it, the lnore so as this defile " appears to there, the end of life. Asa. cannot well have been more than once the meeting- have been more than fifty. It was in the place between the Jews e.nd their enemies" 39th year of his reign (2 Chron. xvi. 12) (Conder)], and Mizpa.h. [Heb. the Mizpah, that this disease attacked him] he was i.e., watch-tower (Gen. xxxi. 49). The diseased 1n his feet. [It is generally sup- name points to e.n eminence, bnt it is posed that this disease we.s the gout. In remo.rkable the.t while so me.ny sites of the Chronicles (l.c.) he is reproached for minor importance have been recovered, this seeking" not to the Lord but to the phy- old gathering-place of the tribes (Jndg. xxi. sicians." We must remember what the art 1; 1 Sam. vii. 6; x. 17-25), and the see.t of medicine at the.t day was like (see Kitto, of Gcdaliah's government (Jer. xl. 6), cannot "Daily Bib. Illus.," iv'. 195 sqq.), and that be identified with certainty. It has been the Jews regarded sickness and healing as conjectured that it is now represented by a.like the immediate e.cts of God. the commanding eminence of Nebi Samwil Ver. 24.-AndAsa slept with his fa.there, (Robinson, ii. p. 328; Van de Velde, ii. p. and was buried with his fathers [" in his 53), but Ste.nley (S. and P., ii. p. 213---4) e.nd own sepulchre which he had me.de for him- Grove (Diet. Bib., ii. p. 389) argue in favour self" (2 Cbron. xvi. 14, which also not.ices of Scopus, and " the survey has done little " the bed filled with sweet odours," in to throw light on this question" (see Con- which he we.s le.id and the " very great der, pp. 257-9). It is to be hoped that the burning" made for him)] 1n the city of "pit," or well, which Asa.me.de (Jer. xii. 9), David h1s father: and Jehoshaphat his son probably " to provide Mizpah with e. plenti- reigned 1n h1s stead.
HOMILETICS.
Vere. 11-26.-The Reign of Asa. Though this prince reigned forty and one years-a longer period than any of hie predecessors, and, with two exceptions, a longer period than any of the kings who came after him-yet his reign, so far as it is recorded here, may be summed up in few words. "Happy ie the nation," it has been said, "which hae no history." But happier still the nation whose history, like that of J udoh in the time of Asa, may be comprehended under these two heads -internal reforms, and ezte1-nal discipline. I. INTERNAL REFORMS, Two questions present themselves for consider11tion here. First, What were Asa's reforms? Secondly, In what way were they 11ccomplished? 1. His reforms were practically of two kinds: (a) Moral, and (b) Religious. It is not implied that he either put morality before religion, or believed that the one coulcl be separated from the other. It may be a question in these days-it is at lea~t hotly disputed-whether morality can long support itself without a religious be.sis and religious sanctions; but it wo.s no question in that dark e.ge, or for many hundred years e.fterwo.rds. Then it we.s a choice between the one true religion e.nd !he most shameful immore.lities pre.ctised under the no.me of religion. All the.t 1s mee.nt her~, therefore, is that Ase.'s reforms resulted in purging and re.ising the tone of pubho more.lity by suppressing the idolatry which sanctioned a.nd con- secrated impurity. (1) The moral reformati.on is suggested to our minds by the words "He took awny the Sodomites out of the land" (ver. 12). What an abyss of corrnption does this one brief sentence reveal to us. " It is a shame even to speak of those things 3H THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. [cu. xv. 1-24,