The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 364

eistent with the records of history, which bring Jehu upon the scene again in the days of J ehoehapho.t. II. HE UTTERS THE JUDGMENTS OF THE Loan. 1. The posterity of Baaaha waa to be taken away. (1) Hie own. He was to have no male representative. (2) That of hie house. His femo.le o.s well as male issue wa.s to be destroyed. He was to be utterly rooted out. 2. History repeats itself. (1) It does this because crime must provoke appropriate punishment. God recognizes the lez talionia--eye for eye, tooth for tooth. (2) The house of Bo.asha being like to that of Jeroboam, the doom is similo.r. As Baa.aha executed the judgment of the Lord upon the house of Jeroboam, o,nother aspirant to royalty is to execute the judgment of the Lord upon the house of Baasha. Note 3. There are posthumous punishments. (1) Baasha was o.s great a criminal as any of his house, yet he came to his grave in peace and honour. He died on his bed a.nd wa.s buried in state. Must there not be a. future reckoning a.nd retribution 'I (2) Baasha is punished in the extermination of his house. But this judgment came upon him after his decease. How could that affect him unless there be a. future state 'I (3) The same inference follows from the judgment upon the bodies of his posterity after their decease. What matter would it be to him or them to have their bodies eaten by dogs or by vultures when the life was gone, unless the spirits survived 'I (4) How 511ch things react upon the disembodied spirit is a. mystery. "There are many things in heaven and earth that do not enter into our philosophy."-J. A. M. Vers. 8-14.-The House of Baasha. The character of Baasba is drawn in the paragraphs immediately preceding, which also contain an account of his end, which was better than he deserved, and suggests the reality of a future retribution. His family so fully followed in his steps that we have no mention of an A.bijah amongst them, "in whom was found some good thing towards the Lord God of Israel" (see eh. xiv. 13). The judgment of God upon this wicked house is written in the words before us. We have to reflect upon- I. THE DEPRAVITY OF THE HOUSE OF BAASHA. 1. The prophecy of Jehu came to them as a warning. (1) Such is the nature of this ola.ss of prophecies. The threatenings of God, like His promises, o.re conditional. So, ha.d they repented, the judgments denounced would have been removed or moderated. (2) Of this principle the Script1ues furnish many illustrations. Ta.ke, e.g., the argument of Abraham's prayer for Sodom o.nd its success (Gen. xviii 23-32). See the effect of the contrition of Ahab (eh. xxi. 27-29). How the judgment of the Lorcl upon Nineveh was averted through their hnmilia.tion before God (Jonah iii., iv.). (3) This prophecy, therefore, came in mercy, a.s a. respite, to give space for repentance. Else judgment might have fallen without remonstro.nce, o,s it did in the issue. By timely repents.nee and reformation let us seek to avert all threatened judgments. 2. But here was no repentance. (1) Elo.h walked in the steps of his father. He, followed the sin of Jeroboam. Their idolatries a.re called " vanities." The gods they _worshipped could neither profit nor help them. "Ho.ppy is that people whose God 1s the Lord.'' Misera.ble, those whose gods a.re vanities I (2) Moreover, Elah o.bancloned himself to sensuality. See him in Tirzah, a. pale.ea beautifully situo.ted (Cant. vi. 4), where he might have found innocent o.nd rational enjoyment. But there h:e is in the apo.rtments of Arzo., his major domo, drunk! What a condition for o. km~ I (3) Who.t a condition for o, nation, to be ruled by such o. king I The Ephra.th1tes had reason to repent of thfir revolution. They did not improve upon the h~use_of David. Revolutionists ho.ve generally found their dreams of a political Po.ro.d1se illusory. (4) The wisdom of Christ~ans would be to make the best of the political system they may inherit, ancl pro.y for the speedy coming of the kingdom of Christ. This was the spirit of Paul's exhortations, even when such a monster as Nero ruled the kingdoms of the world (see Rom. xiii. 1; 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2; Tit. iii. 1; 11,lso 1 Pot. ii. 13, 17). II. THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE JUDGMENTS OF Goo. 1. The wicked follow their own devices. (1) Zimri had o,n ambition_ to reign. Such 11,n o.mbition is not Ull- eommon. Few can ascend the throne of a kingdom. l3ut there a.re tyran\s on the l IUNGS, 2 8  870 THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. [oa. xv. 25-xvt. 28.