yard, and of his being guilty of his death to obtain it. A wicked person is afraid to meet a faithful servant of the Lord, because it brings his sins into remembrance; therefore he calls him his enemy.

CHAPTER XXII.

This chapter finishes the history of Ahab's reign. It was promised in the close of the foregoing chapter, that the ruin of his house should not come in his days; but his days were soon at an end. His war with the Syrians at Ramoth-gilead, is that which we have an account of in this chapter. 1. His preparations for that war. He consulted, (1.) His privy council, ver. 1-3. (2.) Jehoshaphat, ver. 4. (3.) His prophets. 1. His own, who encourages him to go on this expedition, ver. 5, 6. Zedekiah particularly, ver. 11, 12. 2. A prophet of the Lord, Micaiah, who was desired to come by Jehoshaphat, ver. 7, 8. sent for, ver. 9, 10, 13, 14. upbraided Ahab with his credulity of the false prophets, ver. 15. but foretold his fall in this expedition, ver. 16, 17, 18. and gave him an account how he came to be thus imposed upon by his prophets, ver. 19-23. He is abused by Zedekiah, ver. 24, 25. and imprisoned by Ahab, ver. 26-28. 2. The battle itself; in which, 1. Jehoshaphat is exposed. But, (2.) Ahab is slain, ver. 29-40. In the close of the chapter we have a short account, 1. Of the good reign of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, ver. 41-50. Of the wicked reign of Ahaziah king of Israel, ver. 51-53.

VER. 28. "And Micaiah said, if thou return at all in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me."]-From hence it appears that Micaiah was a true prophet of the Lord, that he was faithful to Ahab, and did not regard the favours nor the frowns of the king: he was not like the four hundred false prophets of Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife kept, for they prophecied falsely. A lying spirit was gone forth among all Ahab's prophets, and they spoke ambiguously; "The Lord shall deliver Ramoth-gilead into the hands of the king;" but what king they did not say: Micaiah was plain, faithful, and expressive. Thus we see that every one that is faithful to the truth will find enemies rise up against him a clear conscience, and the blessing and presence of God, are our best friends in times of adversity.

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Ver. 43. "Doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord."]-This is spoken in commendation of Jehoshaphat; which shews that good men may be drawn aside by evil men, as Jehoshaphat was to join with Ahab. Hence observe, that the children of God have their weaknesses and infirmities, but the Lord will not lay them to their charge; for we find that the Holy Ghost says that he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord.

A

Spiritual Exposition

OF THE

SECOND BOOK

OF THE

KINGS;

COMMONLY CALLED,

THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE KINGS.

SCRIPTURE KEY,

THIS book contains the history of the kings of Israel from Ahaziah the son of Ahab, to the captivity of the ten tribes, commonly called by the name of Israel, which was about the space of one hundred and eighty-five years. And it likewise contains the history of the kings of Judah from the death of Jehoshaphat to the captivity of Judah, which was about three hundred and forty-four years. Judah and Israel being two distinct kingdoms, each suffered a distinct captivity; the one is called the Assyrian, the other the Babylonish. The tribe of Judah falling into the same sins with the ten tribes, particularly into the sin of idolatry, they provoked the Lord to deliver them up into the hands of the king of Babylon: "They did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord after the abominations of the hea then" see 2 Kings xxi. 3-9.

The Assyrian captivity was that of the ten tribes, which was begun in the reign of Pekah king of Israel, when Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, conquered a part of his country, and carried away the people captive to Assyria. It was afterwards completed by Shalmaneser, who took Samaria, the capital of the kingdom of Israel, after three years siege, and went up through the land, and carried away the residue of the people captive into Assyria. The ten tribes had greatly sinned against God, by corrupting his worship, for they were greatly given to idolatry; and it is said that "they walked in the statutes of the heathen, and served idols." See 2 Kings xv. 29. and xvii. 5, 6, 8, 12. The ten tribes rebelled against the Lord, and followed the abominations of the heathen round about them; for the king of Assyria brought an heathenish and idolatrous people to dwell in Samaria and the adjacent parts, who were afterwards called Samaritans; whose religion was a mixture of judaism and heathenism, and therefore the Jews of the tribe of Judah would have no dealings with them, John iv. 9.

The Babylonish captivity was that of the kingdom of Judah, or of the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, who adhered to the house of David. It was begun by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, in the reign of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar bound in fetters to carry him to Babylon from hence began the period of the seventy years captivity. About nine years afterwards, in the reign of Jehoiakim, Nebuchadnezzar made a second descent against Judah, and besieged Jerusalem, and took it, and carried away the king, and all the nobles, and the great men, and officers, and ten thousand captives, to Babylon, with all the treasure of the house of the Lord, and the treasure of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon had made for the temple. See 2 Kings xxiv. 10-16.

The greater part of the ten tribes, as a peculiar people, and visible church of God, seem to have been lost in their captivity: but Judah returned into their own land after the captivity of seventy years, according to the word of the Lord; for the great and glorious Messiah was to descend from that tribe: and in this obscure and low state of the church the Lord reserved a people for himself; for the promises and prophecies concerning him and his kingdom were to be accomplished.

In the second chapter of this book we have the history of Elijah's being taken up by a fiery chariot into heaven; and Elisha dividing Jordan with Elijah's mantle, is acknowledged his successor. Naaman, by the report of a captive maid, is sent to Samaria to be cured of his leprosy : and Elisha sending him to Jordan, he is cured. And this book contains an account of the reigns of the kings of Judah and Israel to their respective captivity.

It has been observed concerning the kings of Judah, that David was noted for his devotion, Solomon for his wisdom, Rehoboam for his simplicity, Abishai for his valour, Asa for his uprightness, Jehoshaphat for his zeal, Jehoram for his wickedness, Ahaziah for his profaneness, Joash for his backsliding, Amaziah for bis rashness, Uzziali for his might, Jotham for his peaceableness, Ahaz for his idolatry, Hezekiah for his piety and prayer to the Lord, Manasseh for his repentance, Amon for his obscurity, and Josiah for his goodness. Jehoahas, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah were wicked, and soon brought ruin upon themselves and their kingdom. Prov. xiv. 34.

It is generally thought that this book was not written. by one person, but most probably by the several prophets that lived in the times of the respective kings of Israel and Judah, and that it was gathered together by Ezra after the return of the tribe of Judah from captivity.

CHAPTER I.

We here find Abaziah, the genuine son and successor of Ahab, on the throne of Israel. His reign continued not two years; he died by a fall in his own house; which, after the mention of the revolt of Moab, ver. 1. we have here an account of, (1.) The message which on that occasion be sent to the God of Ekron, ver. 2. (2.) The message he received from the God of Israel, ver. 3-8. (3.) The destruction of the messengers he sent to seize the prophet once and again, ver. 9-12. (4.) His compassion to, and compliance with, the third messenger upon his submission, and the delivery of the message to the king himself, ver. 13-16. (5.) The death of Ahaziah, ver. 17-18. In the story we may observe how great the prophet looks, and how little the prince.

VER. 3. "Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron?"]-Here the Lord shews his displeasure to the king

of Israel in putting confidence in an idol, and in rejecting him in whose hand is health and life.

CHAPTER II.

In this chapter we have, (1.) The translation of Elijah, that famous story; in the close of the foregoing chapter, we had a wicked king leaving the world in disgrace, here we have an holy prophet leaving it in honour; the departure of the former was his greatest misery, of the latter his greatest bliss; men are as their end is. Here is, 1. Elijah's taking leave of his friends, the sons of the prophets, and especially Elisha, who kept close to him, and walked with him through Jordan, ver. 1-10. 2. His rapture into heaven by the ministry of angels, ver. 11. and Elisha's lamentation of the loss this earth had of him, ver. 12. (2.) The manifestation of Elisha, as a "prophet in his room." 1. By the dividing of Jordan, ver. 13, 14. 2. By the respects which the sons of the prophets paid him, ver. 15-18. 3. By the healing of the unwholesome waters of Jericho, ver. 19-22 4. By the destruction of the children of Beth-el that mocked him, ver. 23-25. This revolution in prophecy makes a greater figure than the revolution of a king. dom.

VER. 5. "Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head to-day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace."]-This answer of Elisha to the sons of the prophets, was not given with discomposure of mind, or from a fretful temper, but that they might be resigned to the will of God therein.

Ver. 8. "So that they two went over on dry ground."] -The miraculous dividing of the river Jordan was an evidence of the power of God with him; and Jordan was by the power of God divided for the entrance of Israel into the earthly Canaan. Jordan is supposed to be a figure of death, which the christian must pass through before his translation to glory, because Christ has by his death divided the waters; that is, he hath removed the "curse of the law," which is the "sting of death," and thereby made it a safe way to eternal life to the believer. "O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory?" 1 Cor. xv. 55.

Ver. 11. "And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven."-We find that Elijah's attendance to heaven was wonderful: "Chariots of fire, and horses of fire," which appeared either descending from the clouds, or coming towards them upon the ground, in this form the angels appeared; the souls of all the faithful are carried by an invisible guard of angels into the bosom of Abraham, but