_Jehoshaphat the King of Judah._ CHARACTER OF JEHOSHAPHAT In Ahab we have an instance of a wicked man partially reclaimed, frequently arrested, but yet finally hardened in his iniquity. In Jehoshaphat, again, we have a still more affecting example. We see how a man, upright before God, and sincere... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the King of Syria?_ UNPOSSESSED POSSESSIONS I. What is ours and not ours. Every Christian man has large tracts of unannexed territory unattained possibilities, unenjoyed blessings, things that are his and yet not his. H... [ Continue Reading ]
_Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord to-day._ APPEAL TO THE PROPHETS IN TIME OF CRISIS It has been noted, that in ancient Grecian national affairs, when all theories that are called practical break down, it is the once-despised and suspected philosophers that come into strange public imp... [ Continue Reading ]
_There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah._ LOYALTY TO TRUTH In all the course of my acquaintance with Sir Robert Peel, I never knew a man in whose truth and justice I had a more lively confidence. In the whole course of my communication with him, I never knew an instance in which he did not... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth._ PROPHETS OF SMOOTH SPEECH I. A certain fear of God is made to serve the selfish ends of worldly men. Here is a wicked king, a pervert from the true faith, a patron of idolatry, a man whose actions were only evil cont... [ Continue Reading ]
_I saw the Lord sitting on His throne._ COUNCIL IN HEAVEN We read elsewhere of “war in heaven.” The text suggests a different subject, apparently connected with it, namely, “council in heaven.” Micaiah describes what he saw as a vision. We are presented with one of the most imposing descriptions of... [ Continue Reading ]
_Put this fellow in the prison._ PERSECUTING THE TRUTH-TELLER One evening, at a small literary gathering, a lady, famous for her “muslin theology,” was bewailing the wickedness of the Jews in not receiving our Saviour, and ended a diatribe by expressing regret that He had not appeared in our own ti... [ Continue Reading ]
_A certain man drew a bow at a venture._ PROVIDENCE IN ACCIDENTS I. The lord’s hand is concerned in those events which have the appearance of being wholly accidental, and of happening by chance or luck. The man who drew the bow by which the King of Israel received his death, drew it, as our text s... [ Continue Reading ]
_So the king died._ THE END OF AHAB 1. Observe the madness of Ahab’s policy, and note how often it is the policy which we ourselves are tempted to pursue. We suppose that if we do not consult the Bible we may take licence to do what seems good in our own eyes, and we imagine that by ignoring the Bi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish._ THE SHIPWRECK AT EZION-GEBER I. This lamentable disaster to King Jehoshaphat’s shipping. The Red Sea is a long and comparatively narrow sheet of water, running in a north-westerly direction from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean. Its extreme length, from t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin._ JEROBOAM We have here-- I. A bad man. 1. He was low in origin. Son of one of Solomon’s servants, whom the king, finding industrious, made a ruler. His evil character soon became manifest. 2. He formed the ambitious design of usurping the thro... [ Continue Reading ]