Dark will be the day in the history of any nation when the men who shed
their blood that truth might be told and honor might be vindicated are
no longer held in remembrance. In vain do we bring forth from our hidden
treasure the coins of ancient times, the robes worn in high antiquity by
kings and priests, the rusty armor of warriors, if there is no longer in
our heart the most tender recollection of the men who wandered about
clad in sheep-skins and goat-skins--being destitute, afflicted and
tormented--that they might save the torch of truth from extinction and
the standard of honor from overthrow.
Away the kings have gone, and instead of relying upon the word of the
Lord, or taking refuge in the sanctuary of great principles, they invent
little tricks for the surprise and dismay of the enemy.
The king of Israel disguised himself, and Jehoshaphat made himself as the
king of Israel; but all their inventions came to nothing. A certain man
drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints
of the harness. The poor king was fatally struck. He “was stayed up his
chariot against the Syrians, and died at even; and the blood ran out of
the wound into the midst of the chariot.… And one washed the chariot in
the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed
his armor; according unto the word of the Lord which He spake.”
So will perish all the enemies of the Lord.
Differences of merely accidental detail there will ever be, but no honor
can mark the death of those who have gone contrary to the will of Heaven,
and taken counsel of their own imagination. How long shall the lessons of
history be wasted upon us? How long will men delude themselves with the
mad infatuation that they can fight against God and prosper? Horsemen and
chariots are nothing; gold and silver are valueless; all the resources of
civilization are but an elaborate display of cobwebs. Nothing can stand
in the final conflict but truth, right and purity. These are the eternal
bulwarks, and unto these are assured complete and unchangeable victory.
If God be for us, who can be against us? And if God be against us, it
will matter not what kings are for us; they shall be blown away by the
wind as if contemptuously, and cast out as refuse which is of no value.
My soul, be thou faithful to the voice of history, nor tell lies to
thyself, nor operate merely through imagination, ambition or selfish
calculation; for the end of this course is death--not heroic death, not
death over which coming men and women will weep, but death that shall be
associated with dishonor, a thing to be forgotten, an event never to be
named without bitterness and shame.
The first and second Book of Kings constitute a section of Jewish
history, and originally formed only one book in the sacred writings. It
was customary with the Jews to name the sacred books from the word or
words with which they commenced; and, while this practice may have given
rise to the designation, “Kings,” it is right to observe that the title
is well fitted to indicate the character of these historic compositions.
The annals given in these sacred registers are necessarily brief; but
they extend from the close of David’s reign till the commonwealth was
dissolved, a period of 427 years. Succinct as is the history contained
in these books, there are some peculiarities in them which should not
be overlooked, and from which not a little may be learned. There is not
here a simple biography of the various kings that occupied the thrones
of Judah and Israel, nor is there a mere detail of national movements
and events, nor even a tabular register of ecclesiastical affairs. The
throne, the state and the church are all exhibited in their mutual
relations and bearings upon each other. Kings and people are held up to
view as existing and acting under the immediate government of God; and
hence the character of the ruler is always tested by the mode in which he
adheres to the laws of the Most High and develops the moral excellences
of the people. The notice of his accession to royal office is generally
accompanied with an estimate of his conduct, and the standard to which
he is likened or with which he is contrasted is either the character of
David, of his own father or of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, “who made
Israel to sin.”
All the political events which are recorded have been brought forward
chiefly to exhibit the influence of religion on national prosperity, and
in this way to show how the divine King of Israel observed the conduct
of his subjects, and rewarded their fidelity or avenged their wickedness
with expressions of righteous indignation. And the affairs of the Church
are all portrayed with the evident design of giving prominence to the
same important truth.
Idolatry in Israel was treason against their King; religious defection
was open revolt, and every act of overt wickedness was an act of
rebellion. Hence there is a constant comparing or contrasting of
religious state and feeling with those of former times, and especially
are the oracles of truth continually elevated as the perfect standard to
which the thoughts and actions of all should be conformed.
The Mosaic promises and warnings are strikingly verified in the Books of
Kings. For this object they were written, and to the manifestation of
this the author has made his whole narrative conduce.
Much variety of opinion exists with reference to the author of these
records and the period of their composition. Jewish tradition ascribes
the authorship of the treatise to Jeremiah, the prophet--a supposition
which is greatly strengthened by the similarity of style and idiom which
is traceable between the language of the Books of Kings and that of
Jeremiah.