The Bible Story Part 210

And he said, "I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: for it was said to me by the word of the Lord, 'Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.'"

And he said unto him, "I also am a prophet as thou art; and an angel spoke unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, 'Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water.'"

But he lied unto him. So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. And it came to pa.s.s, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back: and he cried unto the man of G.o.d that came from Judah, saying, "Thus saith the Lord, 'Forasmuch as thou hast been disobedient unto the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which, the Lord thy G.o.d commanded thee, but camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of the which he said to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy body shall not come unto the sepulcher of thy fathers.'"

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THE RUINS OF SAMARIA

From a photograph belonging to the Forbes Library, Northampton, Ma.s.s., and used by special permission

"To-day amid the peaceful beauty of the scene--the secluded vale covered with cornfields through which the winding streams flash and glisten into the hazy distance, and the gentle hill rises to the olives waving over its summit--it is possible to appreciate Isaiah's name for Samaria, the crown of the pride of Ephraim, the flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley. There by the entrance of the gate Ahab drew his sentence of death from the prophet of Jehovah; and there they washed his blood from his chariot, when they had brought him back to his burial.

There Jezebel slew the prophets of Jehovah and Jehu the priests of Baal."

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And it came to pa.s.s, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the a.s.s, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his body was cast in the way, and the a.s.s stood by it; the lion also stood by the body.

And, behold, men pa.s.sed by, and saw the body cast in the way, and the lion standing by the body: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, "It is the man of G.o.d who was disobedient unto the mouth of the Lord: therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke unto him."

And he spoke to his sons, saying, "Saddle me the a.s.s."

And they saddled it.

And he went, and found his body cast in the way, and the a.s.s and the lion standing by the body: the lion had not eaten the body, nor torn the a.s.s.

And the prophet took up the body of the man of G.o.d, and laid it upon the a.s.s, and brought it back: and he came to the city of the old prophet, to mourn, and to bury him.

And he laid his body in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, "Alas, my brother!"

And it came to pa.s.s, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying, "When I am dead, then bury {362} me in the sepulcher wherein the man of G.o.d is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Beth-el, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Israel, shall surely come to pa.s.s."

After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again from among all the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, that there might be priests of the high places. And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.

_How the King's Son Died_.

At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. And Jeroboam said to his wife, "Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam: and get thee to Shiloh; behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, who spoke concerning me that I should be king over this people. And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child."

And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were blind by reason of his age.

And the Lord said unto Ahijah, "Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to inquire of thee concerning her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman."

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And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she carne in at the door, that he said, "Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings. Go, tell Jeroboam, 'Thus saith the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel: Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel, and rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes; but hast done evil above all that were before thee, and hast gone and made thee other G.o.ds, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back: therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male child, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as a man sweepeth away dung, till it be all gone. Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat: for the Lord hath spoken it.'

"Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die. And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him; for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave: because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. Moreover the Lord shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day. For the Lord shall smite Israel, as {364} a reed is shaken in the water; and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the River; because they have made their Asherim, provoking the Lord to anger. And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he hath sinned, and wherewith he hath made Israel to sin."

And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and as she came to the threshold of the house, the child died.

And all Israel buried him, and mourned for him: according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet. And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he died, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

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MOUNT GERIZIM.

Mount Gerizim (2,849 feet) faces Mount Ebal, and in the narrow pa.s.s between them is Shechem. The Samaritans erected a temple on the mountain, making it the central shrine of the nation and a rival of Jerusalem, about the year 432 B.C. The flat stone shown in the picture is the place of sacrifice, which is still maintained by a little community of Samaritans.

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NADAB.

(The dynasty of the house of Jeroboam was very brief after the death of its founder. Nadab his son reigned only two years, when he was murdered by a common soldier, probably while he was laying siege to one of the towns of the Philistines.)

And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin. And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gibbethon.

Even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned in his stead.

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BAASHA.

(Baasha, who a.s.sa.s.sinated Nadab and usurped the throne, seems not to have been of royal blood. He was probably an adventurous soldier who saw his opportunity and won his way to the crown by sheer force of audacity and daring. He began his reign by killing all the possible aspirants to the throne in the persons of the family of Jeroboam. His reign was marked by a succession of wars with Judah.)

And it came to pa.s.s that, as soon as Baasha was king, he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him; according unto the saying of the Lord, which he spoke by the hand of his servant Ahijah the Shilonite: for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and wherewith he made Israel to sin; because of his provocation wherewith he provoked the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel, to anger. And there was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.

In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, and reigned twenty and four years.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.

And the word of the Lord came to Jehu against Baasha, saying, "Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the {369} dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins; behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house; and I will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the field shall the fowls of the air eat."

And Baasha died, and was buried in Tirzah; and Elah his son reigned in his stead. And moreover by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of the Lord against Baasha, and against his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he smote him.

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ELAH.