.AJrnzi?h'11 elder bro~he;e had been ce.ptured e.nd ale.in by the Are.be (eh. xxi. 17), and 11.s their sons, Ahaz1ah s nephews, had been (in pa.rt at least) put to death by Jehu (eh. xxii. 8), it is possible tba.t the actual victims wcro not numerous, 2, The perpe- tro,i;or of th!,/j massacre. Atbaliab, the queen-mother, who thereby proved herself a true daughter of Jezebel. Instead of grie'ring at the tidings of her son's death, and taking measures to shield his young children, her grandsons, from the sword of Jehu, she herself compassed their destruction. Thereby she showed herself a most unnatuml mother, an inhum11n monster-a woman, like Lady Macbeth, "from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty" (' Macbeth,' act i. sc. 5). 3. The motive of tliis ma~saae. Probably mini::Jed fear and ambition, Apprehensive of her own safety when she saw that Jehn had slain her son, she may have judged that the speediest and surest way to establish her security was to cut off every possible rivo.l from her side, and seize the throne of Judah for herself. It was the usual mode of procedure amongst Oriental sovereigns, on ascending the throne, to put to death all possible claimants of the crown. It is not difficult to see who was Jehoram's teacher (eh, n:i. 4). 4. The extent of this massa,cre. All the seed royal, with one exception, Joash, Ahazie.h's son, who was rescued by his a.unt, Jehoshabeath, his father's daughter but not his mother's-she was ob'riously the daughter of one of Jehoram's secondary wives -and the wife of Jehoia.da. the priest (see next homily). LESSONS. 1. The 'Vicissitudes of human life (ver. 1). 2. The vanity of earthly glory (ver. 2). 3. The danger of evil counsel (ver. 3). 4. The self-destructive character of sin (ver. 4). 5. The madness of walking with wicked men (ver. 5). 6. The propriety of sympathizing with the ungodly in their afflictions (ver. 6). 7. The tiger-like ferocity of some monsters in sin (vers. 7-10). 8. The mystery of Providence in suffering such monsters to live.-W. Vers. 11, 12.-Therescue q/Joash. L THE DANGER FROM WHICH HE WAS DELIVERED, 1. An early death. He was a.n infant at the breast, since he had a wet-nurse: "not above a year old" (Josephus). More than one-half of the human race die in infancy, Scripture examples of the deaths of children: the firstbom of Pharaoh (Exod. xii. 29, 30); the child of David (2 Sam. xii 14-23), of Jeroboam (1 Kings xiv. 13), of the widow of Zarepha.th (1 Kings xvii 17), of the Shunammite (2 Kings iv. 19, 20). Many exposed to the danger of dying in infancy who nevertheless escape, like Moses (Exod. ii. 3), the child of the harlot (1 Kings iiL 25), Jesus (Matt. ii. 8), the centurion's son (John iv. 49). 2. A viol,ent death . . He was in danger of being cut off by the sword. To die a natural death in infancy is sad enough; to be cut off by a supernatural stroke like the Egyptian children, or the Bethlehem innocents, or by an accidental stroke like the Shnna.mmite's boy, much more by a violent stroke like Samaria's children (Hos, L 14), excit.es the imagination as a hard fate indeed. 3. An unnatural death. He was in danger of being killed by his own grandmother. Only one fate could have been worse-to have been slain by his own mother, like the son of the woman in Samaria. (2 Kings vi 29); or by his own father, like the King of Moab's eldest son (2 Kings iii.. 27). IL THE PERSON BY WHOM RE WAS DELIVERED. 1. A kinswoman. Jehoshabeath, or Jehosheba., "Jehovah is the oath," was the aunt of Joash, the sister of his father (see preceding homily). 2. A good woman. A plausible inference from the fact that she was married to Jehoia.da the high priest. "Even princesses did not then scorn the bed of those that served at God's altar" (Hall). Most likely she and her husband disapproved of the stare religion and state policy of the day, inspired and controlled as these were by Athaliab. 3. A brave woman. Scarcely without peril to herself could she have carried out her humane design of rescuing her infant nephew. 4. A clever woman. WitLout i=ense tact she could never have evaded the vigilant eyes of Athaliah. Of the substitution of some other child in Joash's room (Hall) Scripture is silent. HL Tm: MODE JN WHICH HE wAS DELIVERED. 1. By secret concealment in the palace. .A long with his nurse he was hid in a bedchamber, or chamber for the beds ; neither the dormitory of the priests and Le'ritea in the temple-courts (Vatablus), nor the alteping-apa.rtments of the royal princes in the palace (Clericus), but a room in the latter, where, according to Eastern custom., the beds, i.e. mattresses and coverlets, were on. xxm. 1-21,) THE BEOOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 27l
kept (Keil). In thie recess, usually uninhabited, a temporary refnge was obtained from Athaliah's rage. 2. By private uplninging in the temple. Not in the holy of holies (Ta.rgum), to v1hich Athaliah had no access, but in one of the buildin~R on the outer wall, in which the high priest resided with his wife. Fetched at the first con- venient opportunity from their dangerous proximity to Athaliah in the palace, the young child and his nurse were for six years lodged in the priest's house. Here his tmining must have been both carefully and successfully attended to, as his after-career showed (Prov. xxii. 6). From the priest's lips he would receive instruction in the Law of God (Mai. ii. 7); from his aunt, learn to love and practise the religion of his great and good ancestors, Jehoshaphat and Asa. Learn: 1. 'l'he ease with which God can defeat the projects of the wicked. 2. The tender care God takes of children, especially of such as belong to the covenant. 3. The blessing of possessing pious parents and kinRmen, 4. The value of early instruc- tion in the doctrines and duties of religion. 5. The safety of those whom God keeps. 6. The advantage of spending one's early years in the house of God.-W.