The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 162

given the kingdom over Israel to David for ever, even to him and to his sons by a coveno.nt ,;if salt, i.e. by a perpetual covenant (Numb. xviii, 19). 'l'his promise had been made to David (2 Sam. vii. 12-16), confirmed t,o Solomon (1 Kings ix, 4, 6), and reported t-0 ,Jeroboam (1 Kings xi. 31-38), who must have known that whatever sanction he bad from Jehovah t-0 ascend the throne of Israel, he had none to aspire after that of Judah. Abijah's statement was true only of the throne of Judah; the sovereignty of undivided Israel was guaranteed to David and his sons on conditions which had not been fulfilled, Jehov:i.h's language concerning David's throne has been renlized in Christ, to whom the absolute and unbroken supremacy over God's spiritual Israel h11s been committed for ever by a covenant of salt (Ps. ii. 6; lxx.ii. 17; Dan. vii. 13, 14). Hence rebellion against the authority of Christ cannot prosper. (2) '!'heir rebellion was a revolt against their rightful lord (ver. 6). Though Jeroboam had beforehand been informed of Jehovah's intention to wrest ten tribes from Rehoboam, it was none the less an act of insubordination on the part of Jeroboam and the Israelites to raise the standard of revolt against the son of Solomon. So the Divine foreknowledge that men will sin, reject Christ, and continue in unbelief, does not render it the less culpable on their part so to do. Christ, the Son of David, is their rightful Sovereign (Acts x. 36), and to disown his regal authority is to be guilty of spiritual high treason. (3) Their rebellion was promoted and fostered by wicked men (ver. 7). Jeroboam had collected round him an army of vain men-light persons like those Abimelech on a former occasion had hired to follow him (Judg. ix. 4); children of Belial, or of worthlessness, of the stamp of Nabal (1 Sam. xxv. 17), or of those who followed David when- he rescued his wives from the spoilers of Ziglag (1 Sam. xxx. 32); "lewd fellows of the baser sort" like those who assaulted the house of Jason (Acts xvii. 5); "men of the most abandoned principles and characters, or men without consideration, education, or brains" (Adam Clarke). Hence it was impossible their nefarious project could thrive (Prov. iii. 35; Ps. i. 6). (4) Their rebellion was aggravated by the time when it had been conceived antl carried out, viz. at a time when Solomon's son had not been able t.o withstand them, having but newly ascended the throne, and as a consequence been unprepared when the mine, as it were, was sprung beneath his feet (ver. 7). Abijah speaks of Rehoboam as having been at the time of Jeroboam's rebellion "young and tender-hearted ; " but, as Rehoboam was then forty-one years old, Abijah may have purposed by the expression to allude to his inexperience as a king, which laid him open to be misled by designing men, or to the instability of his throne, which would natu- rally invite the attacks of watchful adversaries. (5) Their rebellion was supported only by human warriors and golden calves (ver. 8). But vain is the help of man, even when the battle is against a fellow (Ps. Ix. 11 ; cviil. 12), and much more when against God (Ps. ii. 1). "There is no king saved by the multitude of an host" (Ps. xxxiii.11), as Israel afterwards often came to know (Hos. x. 13) ; and they that trust in golden calves or idols of silver and gold are like unto them (Ps. cxv. 8; cxxxv. 18), and shall ernntually be put to shame (Isa. xlii. 17; Hos. viii. 5). (6) '!'heir rebellion was being maintained in the interest of idolatry (ver. 9). Although Jeroboam had been expressly informed that Solomon's apostasy had been the cause of the division of his kingdom (1 Kings xi. 33), and that the permanence of his own throne depended on his steadfast adherence to the religion of Jehovah (1 Kings xi. 38), yet had he wickedly ejected the priests of Jehovah from their offices, and instituted a new order of priesthood for the golden calves and other idols he had set up (1 Kings xii. 28-31). Nay, as if to pour contempt upon the true religion, he followed the fashion of heathen nations both in the kind of persons he admitted to the sacerdotal office, and in the rites of initiation with which these were installed. The former were selected from the lowest of the people, and the latter were of the simplest description. Any one who could bring the necessary offerings for consecration, "a young bullock and seven rams" (cf. Exod. xxix. 1), was admitted to the new hierarchy, and no questions were asked. This wa11 all the recognition Jeroboat?- made of the true worship of Jehovah. (7) '.fheir rebellion was being prosecuted agamst those who adhered to the true worship of Jehovah (ver. 10). Abijab in this verse gives a better accoun~ of himself than _the_writer of the Kings does (1 Kin11:s xv. 3)-a natural and common, 1f not altogether Justifiable, weak- ness. The probable explanation is that, while clinging to the idolatrous abominations introduced by Solomon and Rehoboarn, Abijah had not abandoned the form8 of th1a1  oH, xm. 1-22.] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 163