nnd armies-a. sme.ller calamity the.n the former, as the destruction of a nation's wee.Ith is a lesser evil than the extinction or suppre~sion of its religion. a. The golden 1hielda in the house of the forest of Lebanon (eh. ix. 16), which &"lomon had made, the LXX. (1 Kings xiv. 26) adding that he likewise carried off the golden armour David had taken as spoil from the King of Zobah (1 Chron. xviii. 7)-the least calamity of the three, the shields being luxuries of which king or nation might be deprived without hurt, and the armour spoil of which either might be deprived without wrong. III. 1TB SPEEDY REPARATION. 1. The nation's loss =cealed. Rehoboam covered up e.s far as he could the damage wrought, especially in his palace, by constructing shields of brass to take the place of those of gold which had been abstre.cted (see next homily). 2. The king's vanity soothed. He also endeavoured to heal his own wounded vanity, by causing these brazen shields to be borne before him in state procession every time he entered the temple. Just as they had done before with the golden shields, the guards fetched out their spurious substitutes with solemn pomp on every ceremonial day, and when the show was concluded replaced them in the gnard-chamber, the spectators probably not being aware of the imposition. LESSONS. 1. The instability of earthly things. A greater king than Shishak will one day plunder kings and common men alike of their material possessions. 2. The facility with which men impose upon themselves, the efforts they make, and the stratagems they resort to, to prop up their fallen greatness or restore their faded glory. Solomon's weak and vain son not the only man who has made brass shields do duty for golden ones. 3. The historic credibility of Scripture. The Shishak invasion is not the only instance in which the monuments have surprisingly corroborated Bible history .-,-W. Ver. 10.-Brazen shields for golden. I. A VIRTUE. To content one's self with shields of brass when shields of gold cannot be got. "Be content with such things as ye have" (Heb. xiii. 5). II. A HYPOORISY. To pretend that brazen shields are golden, either: 1. To hide th8 truth, that our shields of gold have been stolen, lost, or never had an existence: "Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees," etc. (Luke xii. 1, 2); or: 2. To keep up appearances, and so gratify our vanity by seeming richer or more socially exalted than we are: "Beware of the scribes, who desire to walk in long robes," etc. (Luke x.x. 46). III. A SERMON. 1. To such as serve God with brass when they shou,ld do so with gold-e.n exhortation to liberality. 2. To those who serve God with the appearance of gold whrm the inward reality is awanting-a discourse upon sincerity. 3. To them who would serve God with gold but have only brass - a promise of better days when J ehovah's word shall be fulfilled, "For brass I will bring gold" (Isa. Ix. 17).-W. Ver. 12.-Good things in Judah. I. A PENITENT MONAROH. Il. A lllEROIFUL GoD. III. A RESTRAINED ENEMY. IV. A PROSPEROUS PEOPLE.-W. Vers. 13-16.-The biography of Rehoboam. I. Hrs A.NOESTRY, 1. The aon o/ Solnmon, the son of David. 2. The son of :Naamah the A=onitess, the daughter of Hanun the son of Ne.hash (eh. x. 1). II. His KINGDOM. 1. 1ts extent. Judah, with o. portion of Benjamin. 2. Its capital. Jerusalem, the city of the great King. III. Hrs REIGN. 1. The beginning of it. When he was forty years of age. 2. The length of it. Seventeen years; short in comparison with the.t of Solomon. 3. The character of it. (1) Vigorous: "he strengthened himself" (ver. 13). (2) Idolatrous: "he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek tbe Lord" (ver. 14). (3) Troubled: "there were wars continually between him e.nd Jeroboam" (ver. 15). 4. The end of it. Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. IV. His AOTB. 1 . .All written. From first to last (ver. 15). What a calamity to any man it would be to have all his deeds reoorded on the page of history I Yet first and le.at every action of every man is being engrossed upon the page of God's book of 1·emembrance. 2. Where written P In the boolt'of Shemaiah the prophet, and in that of Iddo concerning genealogies. A small honour compared to being written in the book of life. Not so serious a mntter to have one's deeds inscribed upon e. perishi~ 152 THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. [oH, xrtr. 1-22.
page by a human biographer ae to have them graven "a.e with a pen of Iron in the rock for ever," by the hand of God's recording angel upon the tablets of eternity. V. Rm BUOOEBBOR. 1. Hie name. Abijab, or Abijam (eh, :xiii. 1). 2. His reign. In Rehoboam's stead. An honour to Rehoboam that he had a son like Abijah; a mercy to Judah that Abij&h was better than his father.-W.