The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 339

which" were "done of them in secret" (Epb. v. 12). And this among the holy people, the bride of the Lord I No wonder that Asa's first effort wo.s directed against these horrible enormities. This suppression of the Sodomites was a first step towards- (2) 1'he religiou.s reformation. He next "removed all the idols that his fathers had made." "His fathers." Solomon, as well as Rehoboam and Abijab. Probably none of the three bad himself reared idol shrines. But all the three had, to say the least, pemiitted idolatry, and connived at it. It was sin enough that they had not vigorously and promptly suppressed it. They were, each in Iris turn, the representative of the mighty God of Jacob. What were they doing that they per- niitted any rivalry between the bestial gods of the heathen and the Holy One of Israel? But probably we see here the bitter fruits of Solomon's sin-so true it is that "the evil that men do lives after them." When tho.t powerful prince had once granted to foreign deities and shameful superstitions a footing in Immo.nuel's land, it was more than his comparatively feeble successors could do to dislodge them. The people loved to have it so, and neither Rehoboam nor Abijah was strong enough to say them nay. Thus did Solomon, down to Asa's days, yes, and down to the time of the captivity (2 Chron. xxxvi. 14), go on sinning in his grave. And let us notice here an instructive contrast between Asa and Solomon. It was the wise king, the most magnificent of the monarchs of the earth, at the height of his prosperity, and towards the end of a long and peaceful reign, built altars for the abominations of neighbouring nations. It was a young prince, unknown to fame, with no special gifts or endowments, with a restricted dominion, and encompassed with difficulties, who was the first to stem this tide of sin and shame with which his great ancestor had flooded the land. " The first last, and the last first." Compare 1 Cor. i. 27-"29. Wealth has greater dangers than adversity. 2. But let us now consider the way in which these great reforms were brought about. (1) He began at the right place. "Even Maachah his mother he removed," &o. The Gebirah, the first lady in the land, whose conduct would of course be an example to all the women of his realm (Esther i. 17, 18), was deposed from her lofty station. The history of Israel shows repeatedly how the country took its tone, as indeed every country must do, more or less, from the court. It is not only in dress that the queen sets the fashion. The Japanese have a striking proverb, " Fish begin to stink at the head." If the court be corrupt, profligate, in·eligious, the co=onalty will soon follow suit, for we all imitate our supe1iors. In this sense is that word true, coT'l'uptio optinni peaaima. It would consequently have been of little use for Asa to put down idols elsewhere had he tolerated them in the ho.rem, the nursery of his successors. This hydra could not be slain by hewing its feet, or piercing its body; it was only mortal in its head. Maachah's "horror" must be destroyed or idolatry will live and flourish. Moreover, in beginning with her, Asa. shows that he appraised aright the power of female influence. He might have realized that those who "rock the cradle, rule the world." The sinister influence of the harem h.a.d ruined Rehoboam; it should not ruin J ehoshapbat. Here, again, let us mark the contrast between the conduct of Asa and that of Solomon; between the cases of Maachah and N aamah. Solomon built idol altars for his wives: Asa burnt the idol of his mother. The strong king was brought into subjection by weak and foolish women; the weak king humbled and degraded the proudest and strongest woman of her time. The former could not resist the blandishments of one of his many foreign niistresses when she petitioned for the gods and rites of her native country; the latter was deaf to the entreaties of bis mother when she prayed to retain, not her idol, but her place. It must have cost him an effort to deal with the queen-mother who had exercised eo great an influence in former reigns. It has been said that the devil often " comes to a man in the shape of his wife and children" (J. Hinton), and truly a man's real foes are not unfrequently those of his own household. Just as their flattery is the most insidious and mischievous (Whately), so are their faults too often considered venial, and their sins, when lll&ni!est, e.re the hardest to reprove ("f. eh. i. 6; 1 8am. iii. 18), These are the OH, XV, 1-24.] THE FIRST 130OK OI~ KINGS, 845