The Bible Story Part 205

JOTHAM.

(Jotham reigned, it is said, sixteen years, but for all but two years he was regent in place of his father who could not occupy the throne because of his leprosy. On the whole his reign was good and he was successful in his undertakings.)

Jotham was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Jerushah the daughter of Zadok. And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah had done: howbeit he entered not into the temple of the Lord. And the people did yet corruptly.

He built the upper gate of the house of the Lord, and on the wall of Ophel he built much. Moreover he built cities in the hill country of Judah, and in the forests he built castles and towers. He fought also with the king of the children of Ammon, and prevailed against them.

And the children of Ammon gave him the same year an hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So much did the children of Ammon render unto him, in the second year also, and in the third.

So Jotham became mighty, because he ordered his ways before the Lord his G.o.d. He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And Jotham died, and they buried him in the city of David: and Ahaz his son reigned in his stead.

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AHAZ.

(With Ahaz came a period of disaster for Judah. He was a thoroughly depraved character; weak, vacillating, yet obstinate and perverse. He accepted the old idol wors.h.i.+p in all its hideous forms, even sacrificing his own children, it is said, to the awful G.o.d of fire, Moloch. During his reign the land was swept by waves of invasion, and many people were killed or carried off captive to Damascus and Samaria. He tried to make an alliance with a.s.syria, but this resulted in his practically becoming a va.s.sal king. He paid a great tribute and stripped the temple bare of its ornamentation and its precious vessels to satisfy the demand.)

Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and he did not that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, like David his father: but he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baal. Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

Wherefore the Lord his G.o.d delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away of his a great mult.i.tude of captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.

For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an {294} hundred and twenty thousand in one day, all of them valiant men; because they had forsaken the Lord, the G.o.d of their fathers. And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king's son, and Azrikam the ruler of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king.

And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.

But a prophet of the Lord was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out to meet the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, "Behold, because the Lord, the G.o.d of your fathers, was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage which hath reached up unto heaven. And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not even with you trespa.s.ses of your own against the Lord your G.o.d? Now hear me therefore, and send back the captives, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the Lord is upon you."

Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Mes.h.i.+llemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war, and said unto them, "Ye shall not bring in the captives. .h.i.ther: for ye purpose that which will bring upon us a trespa.s.s against the Lord, to add unto our sins and to our trespa.s.s: for our trespa.s.s is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel."

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So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation. And the men who have been named rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon a.s.ses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.

At that time did King Ahaz send unto the kings of a.s.syria to help him.

For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives. The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, and Aijalon, and Gederoth, and Soco with the towns thereof, and Timnah with the towns thereof, Gimzo also and the towns thereof: and they dwelt there.

For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he had dealt wantonly in Judah, and trespa.s.sed sore against the Lord. And Tiglath-pileser king of a.s.syria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not.

For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the Lord, and out of the house of the king and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of a.s.syria: but it helped him not. And in the time of his distress did he trespa.s.s yet more against the Lord, this same King Ahaz. For he sacrificed unto the G.o.ds of Damascus. And King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of a.s.syria, and saw the altar that was at Damascus: and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fas.h.i.+on of the altar, and the {296} pattern of it, according to all the workmans.h.i.+p thereof. And Urijah the priest built an altar: according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, so did Urijah the priest make it against King Ahaz came from Damascus. And when the king was come from Damascus, the king saw the altar: and the king drew near unto the altar, and offered thereon.

And he burnt his burnt offering and his meal offering, and poured his drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings, upon the altar. And the brazen altar, which was before the Lord, he brought from the forefront of the house, from between his altar and the house of the Lord, and put it on the north side of his altar.

And King Ahaz commanded Urijah the priest, saying, "Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meal offering, and the king's burnt offering, and his meal offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meal offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: but the brazen altar shall be for me to inquire by."

Thus did Urijah the priest, according to all that King Ahaz commanded.

And King Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brazen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stone. And the covered way for the Sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king's entry without, turned he unto the house of the Lord, because of the king of a.s.syria.

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[Ill.u.s.tration]

THE POOL OF HEZEKIAH IN JERUSALEM

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

In the East where the water supply is scanty, pools or reservoirs are made with cement floors to retain water, supplied by surface drainage, by springs, or by conduits conducting the water from a considerable distance. The water supply for Jerusalem comes from reservoirs near Bethlehem, called the "pools of Solomon." The picture shows a pool, now surrounded by houses, in Jerusalem, which is connected by tradition with the name of the great king Hezekiah.

This energetic and able ruler certainly built a number of reservoirs so that the city might have water in case of siege. The underground aqueduct, 1,708 feet long, a wonderful piece of ancient engineering skill, leading from Gihon to the upper pool of Siloam, is thought by many to have been his work [End ill.u.s.tration]

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HEZEKIAH.

(One of the best and most famous of all the kings of Judah was Hezekiah. He inst.i.tuted great reforms and overthrew idol wors.h.i.+p of all kinds. He even destroyed the brazen serpent made by Moses, which had become an object of wors.h.i.+p. He was successful in his campaigns against the Philistines. He fortified Jerusalem as it had been done before. He was a lover of music and literature, and is said to have written many hymns. The greatest event of his reign was the successful defense of Jerusalem against the hordes of Sennacherib.)

Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old; and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that David his father had done.

He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of Jehovah, and repaired them.

And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the broad place on the east, and said unto them, "Hear me, ye Levites; now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of Jehovah, the G.o.d of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place. For our fathers have trespa.s.sed, and done that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah our G.o.d, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from {300} the habitation of Jehovah, and turned their backs. Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the G.o.d of Israel. Wherefore the wrath of Jehovah was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to be tossed to and fro, to be an astonishment, and an hissing, as ye see with your eyes. For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this. Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel, that his fierce anger may turn away from us. My sons, be not now negligent: for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him, to minister unto him, and that ye should be his ministers, and burn incense."

Then the Levites arose, and they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and went in, according to the commandment of the king by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord.

And the priests went in unto the inner part of the house of the Lord, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it, to carry it out to the brook Kidron. Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the Lord; and they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days: and on the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end.

Then they went in to Hezekiah the king within the palace, and said, "We have cleansed all the house of the {301} Lord, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the table of s...o...b..ead, with all the vessels thereof. Moreover all the vessels, which King Ahaz in his reign did cast away when he trespa.s.sed, have we prepared and sanctified; and, behold, they are before the altar of the Lord."

Then Hezekiah the king arose early, and gathered the princes of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord. And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he-goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the Lord. So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: and they killed the rams, and sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and sprinkled the blood upon the altar.

And they brought near the he-goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them: and the priests killed them, and they made a sin offering with their blood upon the altar, to make atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel. And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for the commandment was of the Lord by his prophets.

And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, {302} and the priests with the trumpets. And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also, and the trumpets, together with the instruments of David king of Israel. And all the congregation wors.h.i.+ped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. And when they had made an end of offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed themselves and wors.h.i.+ped. Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praises unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and wors.h.i.+ped.

Then Hezekiah answered and said, "Now ye have consecrated yourselves unto the Lord, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the Lord."

And the congregation brought in sacrifices and thank offerings; and as many as were of a willing heart brought burnt offerings.

So the service of the house of the Lord was set in order. And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, because of that which G.o.d had prepared for the people: for the thing was done suddenly.

And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Mana.s.seh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, to keep the pa.s.sover unto the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel.

For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, to keep the pa.s.sover in the second month.

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[Ill.u.s.tration]

THE POOL OF SILOAM.

In connection with the "Pool of Siloam" a most interesting discovery has been made. A tunnel hewn in the rock carries the water down the west side of the Kidron Valley to a pool in the Tyropoeon, so that it might be used by the people in the lower part of the city. In June, 1880, an inscription was discovered near the mouth of this tunnel which says that the work was carried on from both ends, that the workmen met in the middle, and that the length was 1,200 cubits.