God of no.ture to His revealed will, the word of the Lorcl. They meet us there. It is in vain we seek to rest upon the plainest words ; they are explo.ined a.wa.y. Hell is a superstitious dream, and the cross of the disciples of Christ a. mere figure of speech, with no bard, stem reality behind it. 8. Tliey are possessed by a spirit of falsehood (vers. 21-23). Their position is more a punishment of past sin than conscious transgression. They speak with honesty of a. sort, bnt it is out of their heart's darkness. They were willing to be deceived, and they have been deceived. They did not wish to know God as He is, and they ha.ve been left with the god of their own imagination. In which school are we, that of the false prophets, or of the true ? 4. They smite the true serv=ts of. God. Zedekiab's blow preceded the king's judgment. It proved nothing but his own soul's distance from God. It was the act of a man provoked by zeal for his own honour. He who had been moved by ·zeal for God's honour would have stood in silent awe of that terrible but certain judgment which the man was braving. III. THE TRUE SERVANT OF GoD. 1. In a corrupt cowrt his i., no welcome presence (ver. 8). The distance between Ahab and God was reflected in that which separated him from the speaker of God's word. Continued faithfulness, if it may not win, must be repelled and bated. "Woe unto you when all men speak well of you; for so," &c. 2. The necessity laid on him to declare tlie whole counsel of God (ver. 14). He cannot turn to the right hand or the left; the world's wealth cannot bribe him, its power and cruelty cannot terrify him. What king or people desire to hear, or courtly prophets or current creeds have said, weighs nothing with him. He cannot speak in God's name aught save what God has said. 8. His message. He speaks first in easily discerned irony (vers. 15, 16). It was an intimation to the king that he desired to hear no prophecy that would run counter to his inclinations. Then, when he is solemnly appealed to, a picture is presented (ver. 17) of the smitten, shepherdless people, which might well have touched even Ahab's heart. Next king and people are led up to the throne of God. The servant and his words are forgotten in the revelation of his Master. Even the false prophet's utterances n.re turned to o.ccount; they and the reliance which the king is placing on them are part ful..fih;nent of the Divine vengeance. There we.a deeper tenderness and truer love for Ahab in that one breast than in all the four hundred. 4. The great- ness of all true service for God. There is a glory about that despised, persecuted man before which that of both kings pales. It is 11, glory which nothing can tear from the loyal heart, and which shines the brighter amid the world's darkening hate. It is a glory which may be our own.-U. Vere. 29-40.-Tlui Certainty of God's Threatenings. I. ABAB's ATTEMPT TO ELUDE THE DIVINE VENGEANCE. 1. His apprehension of coming evil. If Mica.iah's words were not the words of God, why should he take precautions? His heart gives the lie to bis own unbelief; the words cling to him. The bold refusal to listen to Gocl's word is no assur11,nce that the soul will not afterwards be shaken by • fon:rful looking for of judgment. 2. His ungenerousness (ver. 30). "I will dis- guise myself; but put thou on thy robes.'' The effect of the counsel was necessarily to concentrate the enemy'i; attention upon J ehosho.phat. Sin not only makes a man a coward, it robs him of nobleness. 8. The immediate effect of Ahab's stratagem. Ben-badacl's arrangements for the capture or slaughter of Ahab were rendered of no avail. The captnins could not find the man they sought. A momentary success often attends the plans of those who enden.vour to flee from God. 4. The chance shot. The success of Ahab's device only served to make the blow come more plainly from the hnnd of God. Ben-haclad's purpose could be baffled, but not His. Thora is no escape from God. II. Tm: FULFILMENT OF GoD's WORD. 1. He fell at Ra.moth-Gilead (ver. 20). 2. "Iarael was scattered upon the hills," a;nd the comm=d was gvven to return (vors. 17, 86). 8. The dogs licked Ahab's blood (eh. xxi. 19), not in Jezreel, indeed, bec_ause the judgment then pronounced was that of the overthrow of the dynasty. T~lS ".Vas delayed on account of Ahab's repentance, and happened, as predicted, "m his son's days" (eh. xxi. 29). But the personal part of the prediction, "The dogs 'IHE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. [en. xxu. 1-68.
shall lick thy blood, even thine," was not revoked. There are prophecies both of evil and of good, within the range of which we set ourselves. God's wortls a.re touching us, and will likewise be literally fulfilled.-U .