Chapter 7 THE REIGN OF JEROBOAM, AND THE SEPARATION OF ISRAEL FROM JUDAH

REVIEWING the character of the three former Kings, two of whom gave Jehovah much trouble, and David, the best of them, committed adultery and murder, we must say, it was an unfortunate beginning of royal government. After the death of Solomon, his son, Rehoboam, began to reign. The people requested the new made King to ease them somewhat of the taxes and burdens laid on them by his father, Solomon.

Rehoboam consulted with his father's old servants on that subject, and they advised him to attend to the wishes of his people; but he, on consulting with his own particular party, returned the following answer:-"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." This gives us a sample of Solomon's reign, and also of the course intended to be pursued by his son.

Rehoboam's answer produced a revolt, and the kingdom became divided. Ten tribes broke off from Rehoboam, and proclaimed Jeroboam King of Israel, while Rehoboam retained two tribes: so that the Israelites were divided. The ten tribes were called the kingdom of Israel, and the other two, the kingdom of Judah. This is the punishment that the Lord said he would bring on the nations in consequence of the sins of Solomon. So it was then, with the Lord's people, as it has ever been in Christian countries where the aristocracy is every thing, and, the people are considered as nothing. According to Jewish history, Jehovah and the Kings of his own choosing quarrelled, and then the people had to suffer in consequence of disputes in which they had but little or no interest; and one of the strongest proofs that "the God of the Bible" is not that Being whom we believe to be the only true God, is, that when the Jehovah of Moses and the Kings quarrel, the Kings are spared alive, but the innocent people are in some way or other murdered; thus clearly showing, that Kings are by Jehovah worth more than those who by honest toil cultivate the earth, and labor for the benefit of society,-a doctrine directly opposite to all our ideas of impartial justice.

We now proceed to examine the course pursued by Jeroboam, the fourth King who was chosen to reign over Israel. We ought to find him fitted for so important a station; but, on the contrary, we have again to record another chapter of blunders, far worse than those before mentioned. Saul, their first King, disobeyed the command in sparing Agag, the King, after having destroyed every soul that drew breath. David followed the Lord with his whole heart; that is, he never entered into the temple of idols except to destroy them and their worshippers; but he was guilty of two crimes, for either of which, had he been any thing but a King, or Priest, he would have been, by the laws of his own country, put to death. Solomon's character was marked by every thing extravagant; but he did not wholly turn from the worship of Jehovah, only at times, as when he espoused a heathen lady. Then, to prove his love for his new spouse, he worshipped in the temple of strange gods, and also built new churches to their honor. This is a general outline of the three Kings, all of whom were chosen by Jehovah himself.

Jeroboam was appointed, according to what is recorded, in consequence of Solomon's idolatry. I then ask, whether it is not reasonable to expect, that, in the reign of Jeroboam, the worship of the God of Israel would alone be the religion of the ten tribes who were taken from Solomon because of his departure at times from the God of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob? Jeroboam being then, by Jehovah, made King, in preference to all others, and being raised in the family, of Rehoboam, Solomon's son, and only as a servant connected with the family, we cannot suspect that ever a new choice should have been made for the worse. Could this have been the case if Infinite Wisdom had chosen him? No; it is impossible! No sooner, however, did Jeroboam obtain the rule over the ten tribes, by the direct order of Jehovah himself, than he set up a religion directly opposite to the God who had elevated him to such honor and power.

It is impossible for this account to be true, for two reasons that will be given. The first is, that Jeroboam must have known the cause why Solomon's family were excluded from reigning over the whole of the Jewish nation, namely, because he (Solomon) did at times worship what were called false gods. Now, Jeroboam well knew this, and also, that the only way for him to secure his power was, never to depart at any time, or under any circumstances, from the worship of Jehovah. But, contrary to this, he commenced his reign by falling back into Egyptian idolatry. Under pretence of keeping his subjects faithful to his government, by not permitting them to go up to the Temple, at Jerusalem, Jeroboam set up two golden calves, one at Dan, and the other at Bethel, and proclaimed, "These are thy Gods, O Israel who brought you up out of the land of Egypt." Besides, he knew that Jehovah would pardon an adulterer, or murder, as he had done in the case of David; but on no account did he ever forgive the sin of idolatry.

There is nothing improbable in admitting that the tribes should split into two kingdoms, and have different rulers. This has often been the case; but the only way to account for the conduct of Jeroboam is, by concluding that he knew, the whole to be a trick, and that neither Jehovah, nor any other God, had a hand in the putting up or dethroning of Kings. This being admitted, we can see clearly through the whole matter. Jeroboam then would, from policy, set up a new religion, or revive an old one, so as to keep his subjects from mixing with their old acquaintances of the kingdom of Judah. It is utterly impossible for Jeroboam to have acted as is recorded, if he in truth believed that the only true and living God was his benefactor, and had raised him to regal authority.

The second reason why Infinite Wisdom had nothing to do in the elevation of Jeroboam, is, because he must have foreseen that Jeroboam would have made the matter worse, so far as idolatry was concerned; and this will appear the more striking by the first act of his reign. As soon as Jeroboam came to the throne, he (contrary to the law of Moses) set up images, and made priests of the lower orders of the people, and began himself to worship in the character and office of a priest; for which, a prophet from Judah is sent (by the God who, it is said, gave Solomon the kingdom of Israel) to curse the altar at the time Jeroboam was in the act of sacrificing. Now the conduct of the prophet so sent, will enable us to see through the whole farce. This is recorded in 1 Kings, chapter xiii.

The following is in substance the prophet's mission:-This man of God was sent by Jehovah to cry against and curse the altar at the time Jeroboam was performing sacrifice; and being at the altar, he ordered his officers to lay hold of the prophet, at the same time pointing to him; and instantly the King's arm became useless, and could not be drawn into its proper place. Jeroboam then cried to the man of God to pray that his arm might be restored. The man of God besought the Lord, and a recovery took place. Here, then, was a miracle performed; and Jeroboam, being grateful, invited the prophet home to reward him by an entertainment of bread and water; but the man of God refused, by saying, that he was ordered by the Lord not to eat bread nor to drink water-in fact, to make no friendship whatever, but to return. Off, therefore, he went, after he had performed two miracles; one of which was, to cause Jeroboam to lose the use of his arm; the other, to restore it The prophet, on his way back, was met by a man who made the same request, namely, to go home with him, and eat and drink; but the man of God still refused. The man who thus enticed him, further said, I am also a prophet, and "an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, bring him back into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him."

The lying prophet was in the service of Jeroboam, King of Israel; but the man of God, who came to cry against the altar, belonged to the kingdom of Judah. The man of God, who understood that his first orders were countermanded, went home with the lying prophet, and did eat and drink. The reader will now notice the following three verses in 1 Kings xiii., 20, 21, 22:-"And it came to pass, 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 God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and host not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, but earnest back, and hast eaten bread and drank water in the place of which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers." If men would but exercise their reason, is it possible for them to believe that the Sovereign Ruler of all had any concern in so paltry a transaction as this?

The sum of the whole account may be expressed in a few words. The first prophet came to Jeroboam, by order of the Lord, to curse the altar. He then and there performed two miracles, as proof that his commission was Divine. He then departed. All was so far right; but, on meeting another prophet, he was told, in so many words, that things were changed, and that he might do now that which he was ordered not to do when he first set out. But the old prophet of Jeroboam, we are told, was a liar; and when they sat at meat, the word of the Lord came to the lying prophet and gave him orders to condemn the first. So that the Lord first employed an honest servant, who performed his errand faithfully, and then took into his service a false prophet and a liar! Believe this who can!

It is possible that Jeroboam may have been King over Israel: this is not the point in dispute; but that Infinite Wisdom appointed him, cannot possibly be true, because he was made King in consequence of Solomon's idolatry. Solomon did not, by sinning himself, corrupt the whole nation; but Jeroboam set up false gods, and the people followed his example, so that the worship of Jehovah, by the ten tribes, was entirely abandoned. Such blundering cannot be admitted, if the true and living God is to be considered as the projector. Besides, Jeroboam was not cured of his error by reformation, although he had been an eye-witness of the miracles performed on his own person. Enough, then, has been said to prove, that the whole account of God's making Jeroboam King over Israel, is without any solid foundation.

We will now turn to the man of God who came to curse the altar, and we shall be able to discover what we are to understand by the word of the Lord coming unto this or that man, saying. And here I call on the reader to keep in mind, that in many places in the Bible, when any thing unfortunate occurred to Jehovah's chosen people, such as the Lord raised up such and such enemies, and also that such misfortunes were from the Lord: also, again, an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul;-all such passages, and many others, mean no more than that the Lord permitted such events to take place. In this sense, we may say that it was from the Lord that Andrew Jackson destroyed a great part of the English army; but no man is foolish enough to suppose that the Lord had directly any thing to do in the defence of New Orleans. Again, it is repeated in hundreds of places in the Bible, that the word of the Lord came to this or that person, saying. Now, apply this interpretation to "the word of the Lord came unto Moses," and all that can be made of it is, that Moses ascribed every order he gave of his to the people, as coming from the Lord. It is in several places recorded that the word of the Lord came to one prophet of Judah, and then this said word was taken away from the first person, and turned over to another prophet who belonged to Israel; and in 1 Kings xxii., 24, it is recorded, that one prophet smote another on the face, and said, "Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee?" Nothing can be more clear, than that the whole of the Lord's interference is out of the question.

After Israel and Judah were divided, they continued as two separate governments, with each a King for a leader. Sometimes they fought against each other, calling in other Kings to assist them; at other times, they were united and fought together to oppose the common enemy, their heathen neighbors. In a war with the Syrians, when Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, and Ahab, King of Israel, united their armies against the Syrians, and being on the eve of battle, an inquiry was made of the Lord's prophets, as to what success they would have? Ahab, the King of Israel, called his prophets, four hundred in number, and, on being consulted as to the result of a battle, they one and all said, go fight, for the Lord will deliver your enemies into your hands. Jehoshaphat, being more cautious, said, is there not another prophet of whom we may inquire of the Lord? And the King of Israel (Ahab) said, there is; but I do not like him, because he always foretells something to my disadvantage. Then Micaiah, a prophet of the kingdom of Judah, was called, and he foretold that the event of a battle would be favorable to these kings; but that Ahab would be slain. One of Ahab's prophets then became enraged, and smote Micaiah on the face, and sneeringly asked him, "Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak to thee?"

We have here a sample of the prophets on each side They one and all appear to be ready to lie, and deceive each other, in the name of the Lord, and also, to fight for their employers. In this account, it is also recorded that the God of truth accepted of the services of a lying spirit, to deceive four hundred prophets, in order to get rid of a wicked king, the whole account of which is to be found in 1 Kings, chapter xxii.

After the tribes were separated, it was common for the prophets to oppose each other. The kings, also, of each nation aided in the destruction of the prophets, and were worshippers of strange gods. And yet it is recorded, that Jehovah chose Jeroboam to be king over Israel,-the very man who introduced the worship of idols, to the entire exclusion of the worship of the God of Abram! This choice of Jehovah laid the foundation of scenes of bloodshed too horrid to be ascribed to the all-wise Author of Nature. It could not have been worse, had the Devil been the chooser.

For years after the Israelites became two distinct nations, we read of little else than quarrels and bloodshed; and the prophets of Judah (called the prophets of Jehovah) were much worse than those called false prophets. This can be easily accounted for, as the Jewish religion was then the most intolerant of any on earth. The Kings of Judah gave orders, in the name of the Lord, to destroy all the heathen, as the enemies of Jehovah. The prophets followed up the same practice; at the same time, the prophets of the heathen gods were less cruel, and, morally speaking, much better men. According to what is recorded, whenever power was in the hands of the Kings of Judah, or their prophets, no mercy was shown to the opposite party; and as to prophets, they seemed to spring up like mushrooms, for it was often inquired by kings, is there not a man of God here?

A few remarks on the prophets of those times may be here made. Elijah seems to have had delegated to him almost unlimited power; for lo! he, under pretence of having orders from Jehovah, anointed kings agreeably to his pretended orders. He then foretold what the Lord intended should be done to certain kings and their families. Those kings, then, thus anointed by the authority of Elijah, received orders to destroy such and such families; so that after Jehovah had separated the Israelites into two kingdoms by setting up Jeroboam, nothing but cruelty and murder followed, in consequence of the Lord's making so bad a choice.

It would, judging from what transpired, have been better not to have changed the dynasty, but to let Solomon's heirs continued to have reigned over the whole of the Israetish nation; for in this state of Jewish history, idolatry, murder, carnage, and every bad passion was let loose; and the kings of each nation of the Jews, by the direction of these upstart prophets, showed no mercy to those of their brethren who had, by the fortune of war, fallen into their power. All this horrid state of things originated from Jeroboam being made king, and setting up idolatry throughout the land. Can we then admit, for a moment, that the Sovereign Ruler of all brought on such a wretched state of things, or ascribe to him so foolish a choice as the appointment of Jeroboam to be King of Israel? No! it is utterly impossible.

But to return to the prophets. Elijah and Elisha were, at this time, the Lord's servants. Elijah was foremost, and Elisha acted as his servant. The following circumstance brought Elijah into direct conflict with the kingdom of Israel, and the then called false prophets:-Ahaziah, then King of Israel and Samaria, met with an accident, and was sick; and he sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub whether he would recover or not Now, Elijah was sent, or, he said he was sent, to say to the messenger, "Is it because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?" The King of Israel then inquired what sort of a man it was who thus remonstrated with the messenger? And from the account given, he found it to be Elijah, the prophet of Judah; consequently a prophet of the Lord. Elijah was sitting on a hill, and the king sent a captain and fifty men to bring him before him; and this was the order:-"Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down. And Elijah answered, and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven and consumed him and his fifty." And again, another captain and fifty went, and shared the same fate. Then the third captain and fifty were sent; but the captain of the last fifty fell on his knees before-the prophet, and begged for his life, and for the lives of his-men. The Lord then ordered Elijah to go down with the captain to the king.

Now I ask the reader, if his mind is prepared to, believe that these two slaughters, consisting of one hundred men, with their two captains, were brought on them by fire from heaven, as a judgment? What was their crime? They acted as they were ordered by the king. Here we may discover the falsity of the statement; for if any punishment was to follow in sending for the prophet, ought not Ahaziah to have been the victim? This wanton shedding of blood, by the mere calling down from heaven judgments, by an old fellow wrapped up in a bear's-skin, and called a man of God, is too barefaced a lie for the present state of society. There is not one word of truth in the whole marvellous story. Jehovah's murdering the people for the vices of their rulers, is anti-republican; and if men would consult their reason, and employ common sense, the Christian priesthood would be ashamed to preach of a God of mercy, and, at the same time, ascribe to him injustice and cruelty.

Elijah and his man Friday, Elisha, appear to be two of the most cruel of all the band of pretended men of God. They, according to what is recorded, seem to have had a sort of general license to kill and destroy every thing that came in their way. All the prophets and worshippers of the god Baal-zebub, the then worship of the kingdom of Israel and Samaria, were put to death by the stratagem and order of Elijah; and after him, Elisha received an affront by being called "old bald head" and for this great offence, the Lord sent two she bears out of the woods, and devoured forty and two little children! The nonsense of the Koran cannot come up to this account. During the lives of Elijah and Elisha, Jehovah could attend to little else than their concerns, for they were forever praying for something to incommode or destroy human beings.

What man is there, at the present day, who can believe that the Author of Nature gave to a mortal, power to withhold the rain or the dews of heaven from descending on the earth, as is recorded was given to Elijah, who told Ahab, King of Israel, (1 Kings xvii., 1,) "As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my words"? This miracle is referred to by a New Testament writer, but it is not the more true on that account. I have, however, said enough of Elijah, and, as he is about to go up into heaven, I have no wish to follow him.

I will only mention his ascension. It appears that all the towns and villages round about had heard, by what means I know not, that Elijah was soon to be taken up into heaven; for wherever he and Elisha went, the people said unto Elisha, know you wot that Elijah is about to be taken from you? and Elisha nodded an assent, and said, "hold your peace." It appears as if Elijah endeavored to evade Elisha's presence when he would be taken up; but Elisha stuck to him until up he went in a chariot of fire, with horses of the same; and Elisha saw it, and cried out, "My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof!" In going up, his mantle fell off, Elisha taking it, and with it, the prophetic spirit of his master. Elisha then followed on in the footsteps of his predecessor; and his first act was, to call on his God to destroy some little children, for the enormous crime of calling so odd a looking fellow, "old bald head" In truth, we discover in most of the prophets such a spirit of intolerance and rage towards those who were so unfortunate as to differ from or oppose them, that they ought to be considered prophets of the Devil, and not servants of him whose wisdom, power and goodness are stamped on all the works of this mighty universe.

The prophet Jonah seems to have been a man every way unfit for the prophetic service; for when ordered to go to Nineveh, to cry against the wickedness of its inhabitants, he ran away; and, according to the record, his, disobedience produced a violent storm, and when the sailors found that he was out of his road to Nineveh, they cast lots to find out the person who had caused the storm, and the lot fell on Jonah, who confessed himself to be the guilty person. He then told them to cast him into the sea, as the only way to save themselves and the ship. It is written what followed. Another blunder again in the choice of Jonah; and miracles must be performed to cause this run-away prophet to reach his destination. He then again made an attempt to preach repentance to the Ninevites; and they, hearing of the destruction against them, repented, and this made the prophet stark mad; for his consequence as a prophet being hurt, he exclaimed, that he was tired of life. Poor, paltry trash for the employment of a God, to reason with and coax a hotheaded creature like Jonah! but, like all the rest of such tales, there is not one word of truth in the whole concern.

Before taking leave of the prophets of the Old Testament, a few remarks may suffice to point out their real character. From the time that Jehovah adopted the seed of Abram for his chosen people, nothing but trouble and vexation on his part occurred; and on the part of the descendants of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, one disaster after another followed in quick succession. Under whatever form of government they lived, they strayed from his commands, and in spite of his watchfulness, his chosen people would worship strange gods, for which offence they were punished. Heathen kings were stirred up against them, and their subjugation was the consequence. They then cried unto the Lord, and matters were made up for a while. The same scenes again took place, and punishments followed. From the beginning of the Jewish dispensation until it ended, there was continual quarrelling between Jehovah and his favorites, and some of those quarrels were so contemptible that they would disgrace a foolish old man and a peevish wife disputing how the firebrands should be put together, by an evening fire-side. The prophets, also, partook of the same spirit; they abused each other, and sometimes came to blows: they would lie and deceive in the name of the Lord.

But the worst part of the Jewish dispensation commenced with the reign of their kings. Saul was first chosen by Jehovah himself; and, admitting the account to be true, the only crime that is laid to his charge is, the sparing of Agag, the King of the Amalekites, although he had destroyed every other being, both old and young. For this one act of humanity, Saul and his family were rejected by Jahovah. David, his successor, obeyed the Lord in all things respecting religious worship; but he committed adultery and murder, thereby forfeiting his life by the law of Moses. But he was forgiven, and the child, the fruit of his adulterous intercourse, was, by the Lord of Hosts, destroyed. Solomon, his son, and the son also of his companion in guilt, was made king. Solomon worshipped idols at times, throughout his reign, and Jehovah was angry, and resolved to try another line of kings. Jeroboam was then anointed king over ten tribes, and the family of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob were split in twain.

Now, mark! This separation was in consequence of Solomon's idolatry. We might expect, judging from Jehovah's former disappointment, that Jeroboam would entirely devote himself and his people to the worship of the God of Israel. But behold! Jeroboam began with setting up two golden calves, in direct opposition, to the law of Moses, and also to the command of Jehovah, who had raised him from a state of servitude to sit on a throne, savage and only at times departed from the Lord, but Jeroboam excluded every vestige of the worship of Jehovah from his kingdom. This, then, is a just statement of the conduct of those kings selected by the Lord of Hosts, as recorded in the Old Testament And can it be possible that Infinite Wisdom should have been thus disappointed by those whom he had chosen? The just conclusion, then, is, that the Ruler of all worlds had no concern in putting up or pulling down any of the Kings of Israel or Judah. The history is, from first to last, a cheat on the human race, and blasphemy against the only true God.

From the time that Jeroboam was made king until the tribes were carried away into captivity, idolatry was the sin complained of by all the prophets; it was the constant burden of all their prophecies; and the prophets, one and all, intermixed with their complaints the prediction that the Lord had not entirely cast them off, but that the time would come when he would raise up unto them a prophet like unto Moses. Such predictions, often repeated by all the prophets together with continued references to their future renovation and restoration, is what caused a general expectation of some mighty deliverer that would, in the fullness of time, appear among them.