requite thee" (2 Kings ix. 26). Perho.ps he flattered himself that that sin lay a.t J ezebel's door. If so, he is soon undeceived. Such was Ahab's sevenfold sin. Consider- II. lTs AGGRAVATIONS. It enho.nced hie guilt that- 1. He was the Lord's anointed. He was the heo.d of the Jewish Church. Fidei Defensor- this was the highest fonction of e. true king of Israel. His very position reminded him of the gracious and marvellous history of his fathers. To him it was granted to be the repre~entative of heaven to the chosen people. How great the sin when the champion of the faith became its oppressor, when the "nursing father'' of the Church depraved and prostituted it. 2. He had witnessed miracles. The drought, the fire, the rain, all these signs and tokens had been wrought in his presence. Unto him they were sho"wed that he might know that the Lord He was God (Deut. iv. 35, 36; cf. 1 Kings x.iii. 39). Did ever king hear the voice of God as he had done? 3. He had been miraculously helped and delivered. Cf. 2 Chron. xxvi. 15. If he gave no heed to the signs, he should have been moved by the victories Goa had granted him. These were plain proofs that the Lord alone was God (eh. xx. 13, 28). But neither plagues, nor signs, nor victories moved that rebellious heart. He is scarce home from his Syrian compaigns, to enjoy the fruit of his success, thau he lends himself t-0 fresh sin, to murder o.nd oppression. He, the executor and guardian of law, connives at the murder of a law-abiding subject. Let us now oonsider- III. His UPENTANCE. Now that he is found out and denounced, like Feli..x, he trembles. As Elijah stands over him, and announces the doom of his house, be sees a horrible vis.ion of blood and slaughter. The garden of herbs he has pictured dies away from his view. He sees in its stead his own mangled body cast iuto the plot of ground where he was then standing. He sees his hands, his feet, his face gnawed by the curs of the adjoining city. He sees his proud consort strippeJ. of her silk attire, suffering a like indignity in the neighbouring ditch. He sees his children, the fruit of his body, stretched in the streets of the town, or in the open champaign, a feast for the jackal and the carrion crow. "Like the house of J ero- boam," "like the hoUBe of Baasha.,'' he knew the horrors involved in these wonls. A horrible dread overwhelms him. He is smitten by sudden compunction. He must get o.way from this cursed-spot at once. He might then have justly snid to his charioteer, "Turn thine hand and cany me a.way, for I am wounded" (eh. xxii. 34). An arrow from Elijah's lips has pierced his harness through. He mounts his chariot, it bears him through the plain, bears hirn to his palace-no longer "hca.vy and displeased," but utterly crushed and terrified. Again he steals to his becl- ohamber, and turns hie face to the woll and eats no bread. In va.iu the queen assays to laugh him out of his f~a.rs. No instruments of music co.n chnrw his molanoholy, no physicians can minister to thnt mind diseased. He cannot banish that vision from his thoughts. It haunts him like a nightmare. Can he not avort the doom? Can he not make hie peace with Heaven? He has but lately forgiven 11, oruel and persistent enemy; is there no forgiveness for him? He will make the effort. He too will" gird sackcloth on his loins, and put a rope on his heatl," and go to the great king of Israel. He rises from his couch a sadder o.nd a. wiser mnn. He rends hie kingly robes o.nd casts them from him; he assumes the g1trmont of humiliation, he fasts, he prays, he goes softly. It is true his penitence was neither profound nor enduring (eh. xxii. 8, 26), but it was undoubtedly- 1. Sincere while it lasted. It is o. mistake to call it the" shaclow of a repentnnce." There was real contrition-not only fc:i.r of punishment, but nlso sorrow for his sin. We may be sure that, like a former king of Israel, his cry was," I ho.ve sinned against tho Lord" (2 Sam. xii. 13). 2. Open and public. His queen, his courtiers, saw the sackcloth, markctl the hushed voice, the downcast eye, and knew what it meant (ver. 29). "Sccst thou how Ahab ? " &c., implies that it wo.s notorious. The crime wa.s known of all men ; the sorrow and humiliation must be the same. 8. Marked by restitution. The Scripture does not say so, but it tloes not need 'l'HE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. (oH. XXI. 1-29.
to say so. There could be no real repentance, certainly no relenting, on God's part so long as Ahab kept the nneyard. His prayers would have been unheeded so long as there was a lie in his right hand. A" penitent thief" has always restored the theft. Ahab could not recall Naboth to life. But he oould surrender the vineyard io the widow, and we may be sure he did so. But this repentance, this self-abasement was observed, was carefully watched outside the palace. As day by day, with contrite heart and bowed head and soft footstep, the miserable king moved among his retainers, the merciful God and Father of the spirits of all flesh beheld his returning prodigal, yearned over him, ran to meet him. He who will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking wick welcomed the first faint tokens of contrition. The sentence of doom shall be deferred. The same voice which just now thundered,'' Hast thou killed?'' &c., is now hushed into tenderness. " Seest thou," it says, "seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? Because," &c. (ver. 29). Ahab receives- IV. PARDON. And this pardon, it is to be observed, was- 1. Instant. The rebellion had lasted for years. The forgivefiess follows on the heels of repentance. While he was speaking God heard. Cf. Dan. x. 12. 2. Free and full. If Ahab's repentance, that is to say, had been lasting, the sentence would have been reversed so far as he was concerned. It was not finally reversed because of his subsequent sin and that of his sons. The guilt of innocent blood, no doubt, could only be purged by the blood of him that shed it (Num. xx:xv. 33), and it is to be remembered that Jezebel was neve,:included in the pardon. But it is probable that God, to "show forth all long-suffering,'' would have spared the king and his sons, if they had turned from their evil way. 3. Conditional. "Dum se bere gesserit." This provision is always understood, if not expressed. 4. Forfeited. When Ahab turned like a dog to his vomit, then the sword which had been sheathed a.while leapt again from its scabbard, and he was suddenly destroyed, and that without remedy.