such should have been the case.

Altogether, the period of the separate existence of the two kingdoms (to the deportation of the ten tribes

under Shalmaneser, about 722 B.C.)extended over 253 years. During that time, thirteen monarchs reigned

over Judah, and twenty over Israel - besides two periods of probable interregnum, or rather of anarchy in

Israel. The religious history of the ten tribes during these two and a half centuries may be written in very

brief compass. Of all the kings of Israel it is uniformly said, that they "walked in the ways of Jeroboam, the

son of Nebat," except of Ahab and his two sons (Ahaziah and Joram), under whose reigns the worship of

Baal became the established religion of the country. It follows, that there was not a single king in Israel who

really served the LORD or worshipped in His Temple. On the other hand, there were at least five kings in

Judah distinguished for their piety (Asa, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, Jotham, and Hezekiah), while of the other

eight, two (Joash and Amaziah) continued for a considerable, and a third (Rehoboam) for a short period their

profession of the religion of their fathers. Four of the other five kings acquired, indeed, a terrible notoriety

for daring blasphemy. Abijam, the son and successor of Rehoboam, adopted all the practices of his father

during the last fourteen years of that monarch's reign. During the reign of Joram the worship of Baal was

introduced into Judah; and we know with what terrible consistency it was continued under Ahaziah and

Athaliah, the measure of iniquity being filled by Ahaz, who ascended the throne twenty years before the

deportation of the ten tribes, when the doors of the Sanctuary were actually closed, and an idol-altar set up

in the Temple court. But, despite all this, idolatry never struck its roots deeply among the people, and this

for three reasons. There was, first, the continued influence for good of the Temple at Jerusalem; and in this

we see at least one providential reason for the existence of a central Sanctuary, and for the stringency of the

Law which confined all worship to its courts. Secondly, the idolatrous kings of Judah were always

succeeded by monarchs distinguished for piety, who swept away the rites of their predecessors; while,

lastly and most remarkably, the reign of the idolatrous kings was uniformly brief as compared with that of

the God-fearing rulers. Thus, on a review of the whole period, we find that, of the 253 years between the

accession of Rehoboam and the deportation of the ten tribes, 200 passed under the rule of monarchs who

maintained the religion of Jehovah, while only during 53 years His worship was more or less discarded by

the kings of Judah.177

We repeat, it were a mistake to ascribe the separation of the ten tribes entirely to the harsh and foolish

refusal of Rehoboam to redress the grievances of the people. This only set the spark to the inflammable

material which had long been accumulating. We have seen how dissatisfaction had spread, especially in the

northern parts of the kingdom, during the later part of Solomon's reign; how, indeed, a rising seems to have

been actually attempted by Jeroboam, though for the time it failed. We have also called attention to the

deep-seated tribal jealousy between Ephraim and Judah, which ever and again broke into open hostility

Judges 8:1-3; 12:1-6; 2 Samuel 2:9; 19:42, 43). This, indeed, may be described as the ultimate (secondary)

cause of the separation of the two kingdoms. And, if proof were required that the rebellion against

Rehoboam was only the outcome of previously existing tendencies, we would find it even in the

circumstance that the language used by the representatives of Israel, when renouncing the rule of

Rehoboam, was exactly the same as that of Sheba when he raised against David the standard of what would

be represented as the ancient federal Republic of Israel (2 Samuel 20:1 comp. with 1 Kings 12:16). Still more

wrongful would it be to account for the conduct either of Israel or of Jeroboam, or even to attempt

vindicating it, on the ground of the prophecy of Ahijah (1 Kings 11:29-39). The latter foretold an event in

history, and explained the reason of what, in view of the promises to David, would otherwise have been

unaccountable. But such prediction and announcement of judgment - even if known to the tribes -

warranted neither their rebellion nor the usurpation of Jeroboam. It is, indeed, true that, as the Old

Testament considers all events as directly connected with God, its fundamental principle being: Jehovah

reigneth - and that not merely in a pseudo-spiritual, but in the fullest sense - this, as all other things that

come to man, is ultimately traced up to the living God. So was the resistance of Pharaoh, and so are the

sword, the pestilence, and the famine. For, all things are of Him, Who sendeth blessings upon His people,

and taketh vengeance of their inventions; Who equally ruleth in the armies of heaven, and among the

inhabitants of the earth; Who maketh the wrath of man as well as the worship of His people to praise Him;

Who always doeth marvelously, whether He accomplish His purposes by direct interposition from heaven,

or, as much more frequently, through a chain of natural causation, of which He holds the first, and man the