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the queen of the South, came from a district of Arabia Felix, inhabited by the Sabeans, where females were often intrusted with the sovereign power; and that having heard of the wonderful wisdom and glory of Solomon, she had determined to prove the truth of common report by personal inspection, and by a variety of enigmatical questions which she proposed for his solution. When she witnessed his astonishing sagacity and knowledge, the order of his administration, the magnificence of his court, and the unparalleled splendour with which he celebrated the worship of his God, she was so amazed and enraptured that she exclaimed, Behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom." She presented the king with a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and a vast quantity of jewels and precious perfumes; while Solomon bestowed upon the queen whatever she desired, and after having been treated with royal munificence, she returned to her own dominions.

What awful change took place in the character and conduct of Solomon?

Hitherto the conduct of Solomon appears to have been irreproachable, and neither the accumulation of his riches, nor the extension of his power, seem to have perverted his principles nor corrupted his heart. But an awful scene of idolatry and vice was presented in the close of his reign. The most abominable licentiousness degraded his character. From the heathen nations around him, he collected seven hundred wives, and three hundred concubines. The influence of these women produced the most disastrous effect upon his mind. It is scarcely credible, that a prince who had erected the most splendid temple in the world to the honour of the true God, and who at its dedication had poured forth his feelings in language of the most exalted devotion, should have so deplorably degenerated, as to wallow in the most disgusting sensuality, and to erect altars to the most abominable deities of the heathen. His extraordinary wisdom, and his unrivalled prosperity, were fearful aggravations of his

guilt his wisdom he had prostituted, and his

rity he had abused.

What was the punishment of Solomon?

prospe

The wrath of God was kindled; the denunciation went forth, that his kingdom should be divided after his death, and already some ominous events gave the pledge of the accomplishment of the threatening. Jeroboam began to organize the elements of a revolt; Rezon took possession of Damascus, and founded an independent kingdom in Syria; Hadad raised the standard of rebellion in Edom, one of the most valuable provinces of the empire; and it would seem from subsequent events, that universal dissatisfaction pervaded all ranks of people, on account of the despotic proceedings and oppressive exactions of the king. Whether Solomon was reclaimed from his follies and his crimes prior to his dissolution, it is impossible to ascertain. It is not improbable that he was brought to sincere repentance, and that the book of Ecclesiastes is the expression of his penetential sorrow. He died in the fifty-eighth year of his age, after a reign of forty years, and his remains were interred in the sepulchre of David his father, with every demonstration of funereal magnificence.

What was the character of Solomon?

A. C. 975.

The author of the book of Ecclesiasticus has given a summary of the actions, and a description of the character, of this great monarch, which includes every thing which can be stated upon the subject. "After David rose up a wise son, and for his sake he dwelt at large. Solomon reigned in a peaceable time, and was honoured for God made all quiet round about him, that he might build an house in his name, and prepare his sanctuary for ever. How wise wast thou in thy youth, and as a flood filled with understanding. Thy soul covered the whole earth, and thou filledst it with dark parables. Thy name went far unto the islands, and for thy peace thou wast beloved. The countries marvelled at thee for thy songs, and proverbs, and parables, and interpretations. By the name of the Lord God which is called the God of Israel, thou didst gather gold as tin and multiply sil

ver as lead. Thou didst bow thy loins unto women, and by thy body thou wast brought unto subjection. Thou didst stain thy honour, and pollute thy seed, so that thou broughtest wrath upon thy children, and wast grieved for thy folly. So the kingdom was divided, and out of Ephraim ruled a rebellious kingdom.'

Was the criminality of Solomon confined to his licentiousness?

It may be further stated that the criminality of Solomon was not confined to his licentiousness. In three instances he was guilty of the most flagrant violation of the Mosaic law. That law enjoined with respect to a king, "He shall not multiply horses to himself, -neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold." Deut. xvii. 16, 17. these commandments Solomon had violated, his ambition had rendered him disobedient, his example was most injurious to his posterity, and their history is the melancholy record of the decline, and of the final extinction, of his kingdom.

But

CHAPTER VII.

FROM THE DEATH OF SOLOMON TO THE BABYLONISH
CAPTIVITY.

SECTION I.

FROM THE DEATH OF SOLOMON TO THAT OF ASA.

DESCRIBE the separation of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah.

THE temerity of REHOBOAM, the son and successor of Solomon, alienated the affections A. C. 975. of the great majority of his people, and finally produced the dismemberment of his kingdom. Attended by the principal officers of the court, and the elders of the respective tribes, he repaired to Shechem, to receive the homage of his subjects, who united to petition for the relaxation of the burdens which the taxation of the preceding reign had imposed, and which were too grievous to be borne. The wise counsellors of Solomon, earnestly recommended him to listen to their intreaties and to satisfy their demands; but the king, guided by the advice of some young men as headstrong and infatuated as himself, haughtily replied to the people, "My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke; my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions...... So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheri tance in the son of Jesse: To your tents O Israel! now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents." Thus ten tribes shook off the authority of Rehoboam; only Judah and Benja

min retained their allegiance to the legitimate sovereign; the fatal breach was never healed; and from the hour of this deplorable division, the power, the prosperity, and the glory of the Hebrews began gradually to decline.

Who was Jeroboam the first king of Israel?

During the reign of Solomon, JEROBOAM the son of Nebat, born at Zereda in Ephraim, a young man bold, enterprising, and ambitious, was told by Ahijah, a prophet, that the kingdom of Solomon would be rent, and that ten tribes would be given to him. Jeroboam was already possessed of considerable authority, and had a commission from Solomon to levy the taxes of Ephraim and Manasseh. He soon began to incite the people to revolt; but his intrigues were discovered by Solomon, and Jeroboam was compelled to fly to Egypt. When Solomon was dead, he returned to his native country; he appeared at the head of the people when they remonstrated with Rehoboam; and when that imprudent and infatuated monarch rejected their petition with contempt, the ten tribes saluted Jeroboam with the title of king, and he fixed his residence at Shechem, where he surrounded himself with all the insignia of regal authority.

How were the military preparations of Rehoboam interrupted?

The intention of Rehoboam to reduce his refractory subjects to obedience by force of arms, was frustrated by the intervention of the prophet Shemaiah, who told Rehoboam, that the separation of the ten tribes from his dominion was of the divine appointment.

How did Jeroboam seduce his subjects into idolatry? Jeroboam, apprehensive that if his subjects were to repair every year to the temple of Jerusalem, to celebrate the principal festivals of their religion, they might form such a connexion with the subjects of Rehoboam, as might induce them, in the process of time, to return to their allegiance, determined to obviate the danger by a most impious artifice. He made two calves of gold, most probably in imitation of the god Apis, and not as some suppose comparatively innocent

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