NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
By A. T. J.
The Revolt of the Ten Tribes.
WITH the beginning of the third quarter we enter again upon the study of the Old Testament. The close of the Old Testament lessons for last year, was at the end of Solomon's reign. We learned how Solomon forsook his wisdom and plunged into the depths of folly; how that he loved "many strange women," women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; how that he went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites; how that he built "high places" for Chemosh of Moab, and Molech of Ammon, and for all the gods of his strange wives; and how that for it the Lord stirred up adversaries on every hand which were adversaries all the days of Solomon. And then to crown it all the Lord said unto Solomon, "Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant." "Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen." 1 Kings 11: 11, 13. By Solomon's sins, a fearful train of evils was laid. In his iniquities there was sown the seed from which sprang a most abundant harvest, which was reaped in long years, and even ages, of suffering, of sorrow, and of bitterness. How little he thought, how little any one thinks, of this! Yet there is nothing surer, there is nothing more diligently inculcated by the word of God, than this one thing, that sin cannot be committed with impunity. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Gal. 6: 7. "Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same." Job 4: 8. Nor is this confined to the immediate acts. "I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." Jer. 17: 10. Remember therefore that when wickedness is sown nothing but wickedness can spring from it, and the fruit that is borne, enters into the computation of the reward, whatever it may be. If the reward be the reward of the wicked, it will be the greater according to the fruit of the wickedness committed. And if by the mercy of God the sin is forgiven, and if, by patient continuance in well-doing, the reward of the righteous be obtained, yet the fullness of that reward will be diminished according as the fruit of wickedness shall abound. SIN is a terrible reality. "And be sure your sin will find you out." Num. 32: 23. Nowadays it has become quite a common thing, even almost tacitly understood, that young men must sow their "wild oats." Yes; and nearly all do so, but it were well to remember that, from the beginning of sin, never yet was there sown a particle of such "wild oats" that did not spring up and bear fruit abundantly, all of which must be reaped, in one place or another, in sorrow and in dread. There is absolutely no escape, no wind will blast it, no mildew will smite it; it cannot be plucked up by the roots,—it must be reaped. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." It is not in vain that God has written in the table of his law, "I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments." Ex. 20: 5, 6. IN accordance with the word of the Lord to Solomon, the prophet Abijah told Jeroboam that ten of the tribes should be given to him, and he should reign over them. Jeroboam was the son of Nebat of the tribe of Ephraim, and his mother's name was Zeruah, and at this time a widow. As Solomon was building Millo, and repairing the walls of the city of David, he saw Jeroboam among the workmen, and "seeing that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph" (Ephraim). As Jeroboam was going out of the city of Jerusalem one day, Abijah met him and drew him aside into the field. Then Abijah took his own outer garment, tore it into twelve pieces, and said to Jeroboam, "Take thee ten pieces; for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee." And although the Lord told him plainly that this should not be done while Solomon lived, yet like a great many before his time he could not await the Lord's time and so he attempted to seize the kingdom before the time. "He lifted up his hand against the king," and therefore Solomon sought to kill him. "Then Jeroboam fled into Egypt, unto Shishak, king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon." REHOBOAM succeeded Solomon on the throne of David, and of course expected to reign over all the tribes of Israel, and so went to Shechem to be acknowledged as king. But there was a hitch in the proceedings. Israel had sent word to Jeroboam in Egypt and called him up to Shechem, and it may well be supposed that with the ambitious schemes that he had in hand even while Solomon lived, that he would suffer nothing to be settled by which Rehoboam should rule over all. But besides this, the people had a real grievance. In Solomon had been fulfilled, in a great measure, the prophecy of Samuel when the people chose a king in the first place. "He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and391will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep; and ye shall be his servants." 1 Sam. 8: 11-17. ALL this had been done by Solomon; and all to support his heathen wives. The burdens of the people had really been made heavy, and now they ask relief from some of these. But of this, Samuel had also told them, "And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day." 1 Sam. 8: 18. And so when they ask Rehoboam to relieve them he only mocks them. He first consulted the old men who gave him wise counsel, but he had not sense enough to follow it, but instead turned to the "young men that were grown up with him." AND a fine set of counselors these were! Let us see for a moment under what influences he and these young men had grown up. Rehoboam was the son of Solomon by Naamah an Ammonitess. 1 Kings 14: 21. And we read in 1 Kings 11: 18 that all these heathen women burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. These gods were Molech, and Ashtoreth, and Chemosh, and Baalim. These represented the male and the female principles of generation, and all the rites of their worship corresponded to that idea, and is expressed in one word, lasciviousness. Their priests were men dressed in women's clothes; their priestesses were harlots, and their most acceptable worship was by prostitution, and burning the offspring in the fire. SUCH were the influences amidst which these young men had grown up, and such was the training that they had had, by which they should be fitted to become counselors in an emergency that involved one of the greatest kingdoms then in the world. How could the issue be anything else but fatal? And so it was. They said, "Thus shalt thou speak unto this people that spake unto thee." Thus implying that it was an act of rebellion for them even to speak to him of their grievances. And he was to say to them, "My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins." "My father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions." There could be but one result. The people answered the king, saying, "What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse; to your tents, O Israel; now see to thine own house, David." 1 Kings 12: 16. THUS comes, fast following, evil upon evil as the fearful fruit of the sins of Solomon. It was only for David's sake that all this did not happen in Solomon's own day. And even now, when it did come about, it was still for David's sake that there was a tribe left to Rehoboam at all. Chap. 11: 12, 13, 36. "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God." His mercy is upon children's children to such as fear him, and in visiting iniquity, transgression, and sin, yet in wrath upon the disobedient, in mercy he remembers those who have been obedient. Visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate him, and showing mercy unto thousands of generations of them who love him, and keep his commandments. "And I will delight myself in Thy commandments, which I have loved."