WHEN we review “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ” with Heb. 1:11God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, (Hebrews 1:1), as our standpoint, the list given of the kings becomes very deeply interesting.
By the Lord's express command, Joshua, the successor of Moses in the leadership of the people was to stand before Eleazar the priest, who should inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord (Num. 27:2121And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the Lord: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation. (Numbers 27:21)). This did Israel on one occasion, in the days of Phinehas (Judg. 20:2828And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And the Lord said, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand. (Judges 20:28)), but when Abiathar fled to David to Keilah, the ark rested in obscurity in Kirjath-jearim, and of all the priestly vestments he brought with him simply an ephod in his hand. And when in perplexity David bade Abiathar bring hither the ephod; and David inquired of the Lord, who answered him in condescending grace (1 Sam. 23:6-126And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. 7And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars. 8And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. 9And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod. 10Then said David, O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. 11Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the Lord said, He will come down. 12Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up. (1 Samuel 23:6‑12)).
As all know, David was no sooner established in the kingdom, than he set about bringing up the ark to Zion: Solomon built the temple, that house of rest for the ark of God. At the dedication of the temple, first appeared the overshadowing cloud; “Then spake Solomon, the LORD hath said that He would dwell in thick darkness.” Would He who dwelt between the Cherubim indeed shine forth? When Solomon had made an end of praying, all the children of Israel saw the fire descend from heaven, and the glory of the LORD filled the house; seeing which they bowed and worshipped with thanksgivings.
So far as we have ourselves gleaned, scripture gives not the slightest intimation for how long or how short a period that glory-light, which had been at once the defense and the sure guide to their fathers in the wilderness, was openly discerned upon the house. While God shined out of it, Zion was the perfection of beauty.
In the reign of Rehoboam, Shishak spoiled the temple. During the reign of Abijah the form of godliness was maintained (2 Chron. 13:10-1210But as for us, the Lord is our God, and we have not forsaken him; and the priests, which minister unto the Lord, are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites wait upon their business: 11And they burn unto the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the showbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the Lord our God; but ye have forsaken him. 12And, behold, God himself is with us for our captain, and his priests with sounding trumpets to cry alarm against you. O children of Israel, fight ye not against the Lord God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper. (2 Chronicles 13:10‑12)), yet the king's heart was not perfect with the Lord his God (1 Kings 15:33And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father. (1 Kings 15:3)), and idolatry was practiced (vers. 12, 13), which in its most glaring forms Asa removed. This last king began his reign well, and by his offerings enriched the temple; and his faith was rewarded in the overthrow of Zerah and his 1,000,000 warriors (2 Chron. 14:9-129And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah. 10Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee. 12So the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa, and before Judah; and the Ethiopians fled. (2 Chronicles 14:9‑12)). But the closing years of his reign saw his own spoliation of the temple, in order to bribe Benhadad into an alliance with himself against Baasha.
The one remarkable event which we wish to draw special attention to in the reign of Jehoshaphat is that related in full details in 2 Chron. 20. Moved by his fear of the confederated forces of Moab, Ammon, and Edom, he proclaimed a fast; and all Judah stood before the LORD in the temple, while the king prayed. The answer was instantly given, in the hearing of all the people. by Jahaziel.
To Jettorain's alliance with the house of Ahab and its disastrous consequences, we have already referred. Passing over the three kings whose names are omitted in ver. 8, as we have seen, we come to Uzziah; who, like Asa, started well, and ended badly. The one event of his reign we refer to is his presuming to enter the sanctuary to burn incense upon the altar of incense, in the face of the earnest protest of Azariah and those eighty priests who were likeminded with him; and his being smitten with leprosy as he stood beside the altar, and thrust out of the sanctuary (2 Chron. 26). Was the sanctuary defiled by this fearful visitation?
In the year that king Uzziah died, the prophet Isaiah saw such a vision of glory that his description of it favors the thought that it far transcended the glory as openly discerned by Israel on the day of the dedication of the temple. Because he saw the Lord, high and exalted, His being the transcendent glory (John 12:4141These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him. (John 12:41)), the skirts thereof filled the temple. Though Israel's kings had failed, and sinned grievously, the cry of the Seraphim bore witness to the fact that the throne of God is established in holiness. The prophet and Israel were of unclean lips, yet was the prophet's iniquity taken away, and “he spake of Him” Whose glory he had been privileged to behold. Jotham reigned well, and built the high gate of the house of Jehovah. Had it been like king like people, Judah had prospered during his reign; but of them we read, “and the people did yet corruptly” (2 Chron. 27:22And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father Uzziah did: howbeit he entered not into the temple of the Lord. And the people did yet corruptly. (2 Chronicles 27:2)).
Ahaz was so infamous for his very great wickedness that the Spirit of God has characterized his very name thus, “This is that king Ahaz,” or “This same king Ahaz.” He “wearied men “; he spoiled, and shut up the temple. Oh the tender mercies of our God! In those distressing days He appointed for His people a sanctuary, even Himself! (Isa. 8:1414And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (Isaiah 8:14)). In the reigns of other wicked kings honorable mention is made of faithful priests; one thing that characterizes the wicked reign of Ahaz is, that here we have a scarcely less wicked priest in Urijah, who lends himself to become the ready tool of his sacrilegious sovereign in building an idolatrous altar (2 Kings 16:10, 1110And king Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar that was at Damascus: and king Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the fashion of the altar, and the pattern of it, according to all the workmanship thereof. 11And Urijah the priest built an altar according to all that king Ahaz had sent from Damascus: so Urijah the priest made it against king Ahaz came from Damascus. (2 Kings 16:10‑11)).
Hezekiah “trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he slave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses. And the LORD was with him.” If we looked only upon the surface, we might have considered that the piety of Hezekiah would have been rewarded in the exaltation of the nation over which be reigned. That his reign was very greatly beneficial to his subjects we freely admit. When however we draw a comparison between the days of Jehoshaphat and those of Hezekiah, we are struck by certain sure signs that, notwithstanding the latter's godliness, the nation has declined to a much lower footing before the Lord.
On the Assyrian coming upon the scene Hezekiah proclaims no fast, as did Jehoshaphat; instead of the nation standing before the Lord, its godly king enters the sanctuary to make his own earnest prayer as an individual. In a day of national adversity we read of two individuals simply, as praying, and crying to heaven (2 Chron. 32:2020And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven. (2 Chronicles 32:20)). Hezekiah indeed spread Sennacherib's letter before the Lord, but instead of an instant answer, the reply is sent by Isaiah t3 him (2 Kings 19:2020Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. (2 Kings 19:20)). Then the army of Judah is in no way associated with the overthrow of the Assyrians; and instead of gathering spoil, poor Hezekiah had already endured the mortification of humbling himself before his enemy (2 Kings 18:1414And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. (2 Kings 18:14)), and what must have grieved him not less, of the sanctuary despoiled of silver and gold, in a vain attempt to satisfy the greed of his powerful adversary (vers. 15, 16).
All this tells its own sad tale. The prophet Isaiah draws aside the curtain, and shows that hypocrisy existed, and that deeds of darkness were done, behind that form of godliness outwardly retained by the nation (Isa. 29:13-1513Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: 14Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. 15Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? (Isaiah 29:13‑15)).
Had Hezekiah been content to set his house in order and die, the nation had been spared much suffering. During those added fifteen years was born Manasseh (2 Kings 21:11Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzi-bah. (2 Kings 21:1)); the heart of Hezekiah became lifted up, to his own and to the nation's hurt (2 Chron. 32:25, 2625But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem. 26Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah. (2 Chronicles 32:25‑26)); and those hidden workings of evil appeared to have gathered great strength. It may be observed: as Isaiah proceeds with his prophecies, he becomes by the Spirit more and more vehement in his denunciations of Israel's transgression (Isa. 58:1-7; 59:2-81Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 2Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. 3Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors. 4Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. 5Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? 6Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? (Isaiah 58:1‑7)
2But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. 3For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. 4None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. 5They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. 6Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. 7Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. 8The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. (Isaiah 59:2‑8)). All the more positively awful is the state of things disclosed by Isa. 28:14, 1514Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. 15Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: (Isaiah 28:14‑15), when we consider its existence in the very face of that prophet's sublime testimony concerning the glories and honors that all find their center in the Person of the coming Messiah!
It is made very clear by Heb. 11:39, 4039And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 40God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. (Hebrews 11:39‑40), that the three verses immediately preceding this reference directly refer to a period of fearful persecution that raged before Christ came. It would be very remarkable indeed if scripture furnished us with no clue as to the precise period at which it slew its thousands of faithful men and women.
It will help us much to apprehend the real state of affairs during the reign of Manasseh, if we bear in mind what has been written above concerning the workings of evil in Israel, and observe at the same time that for three previous generations of kings the Spirit of God had raised up and maintained a very powerful prophetic testimony, in the mouths of the prophets Isaiah, Hosea, Micah.
Now coming directly to Manasseh’s reign, we find events recorded which give us a most complete picture or foreshadowing of a still more awful period, in which the man of sin will for a time practice and prosper. For here we have a wicked ruler, despising all reproofs, and compelling his subjects to do iniquity. He places an abomination in the house of God. He persecutes to the death those who will die, rather than do evil. Jehovah's “watchmen,” His prophets, hold not their peace day nor night; and the abundant fruit of their powerful testimony is proved by the immense numbers who die the death of martyrs (2 Kings 21:1616Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. (2 Kings 21:16)). While Jehovah's saints are hunted to the death within Jerusalem, the merciless Assyrian comes against the city from without, so that they are placed as between two fires. At such a moment it became faithful priests, who could not enter within the sanctuary, because of the abomination set up therein by Manasseh, to “weep between the porch and the altar,” and say, “Spare Thy people, O Jehovah, and give not Thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?”