boam, who had been the leader of the rebellion, became the king of the revolted tribes. To retain the kingdom he had thus acquired, he endeavoured to break off all intercourse between his subjects and those of their countrymen who remained faithful to Rehoboam. "He said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: if this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.” The people generally acquiesced in his scheme. Instead of frequenting the house of God at Jerusalem, they now worshipped in the temples built by Jeroboam. He did not leave his plan imperfect. He ap

pointed festivals, and established a priesthood; and (as it would seem) to give a dignity to his ordinances, exercised himself the sacerdotal character.

The separation of the ten tribes from the remaining part of the nation had doubtless been predicted: it was intended to punish the miserable idolatry of Solomon, and the folly of his imprudent son. But that does not at all affect the conduct of the persons who brought it about; and the disaffection of the Israelites and the treason of their leader are recorded as a warning to all who would wish to be taught of God. What they did was not done, could not have been, in the fear of God, and accordingly it did not have the Divine blessing. It led to still more open and dangerous sin. We have just

seen the course Jeroboam was led to pursue. He acted entirely upon a worldly policy. He naturally enough desired to retain what he had acquired. He does not scruple about the means he shall employ to effect his object. God had chosen Jerusalem to be the seat of his worship. He

had made it the metropolis of the religion of Israel. There he had manifested himself by a visible symbol. There was the place where his honour dwelled. There was no point in the Mosaic institutes more distinctly laid down than that the priesthood and service of the altar should be confined to the tribe of Levi, and that it was a forbidden thing for any other Israelite to have aught to do with the ceremonial worship. But it is impolitic to allow these peculiarities; it may tend to break down the separation in government. And Jeroboam cares not for other considerations, and hurries his subjects into open schism. As a politician he acted prudently. If a godless expediency may ever have place, it was never perhaps more necessary. A periodical resort to Jerusalem compromised the independence of his kingdom. And when the Priests and Levites had been obliged to abandon his dominions, he could not get his altars served but by people of the other tribes. But nothing can justify disobedience to the Divine commands. All this had been

forbidden, and therefore it was unlawful. His conduct was the effect of unbelief, and it led to ruin.

It was in this state of things that the man of God, referred to in the text, appeared at Bethel. "He cried against the

altar in the word of the Lord." The presence of Jeroboam does not daunt him in the exercise of his commission. He was the servant and messenger of Jehovah. He denounces against the schismatical worship of the place a future judgment. He foretels the destruction of that unlawful altar by Josiah, and declares that it should then be rent, in proof of the certainty of what he predicted. An animated and striking scene ensued. Jeroboam, provoked at the insult offered to his laws and person, interrupted his sacrifice to punish this unwelcome visitor. “He put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man

of God had given by the word of the Lord." Overpowered by this manifest interposition of Heaven, Jeroboam now applied in the language of entreaty to the man whom he but late attempted to make the victim of his tyranny. And the king said unto the man of God, "Intreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before."

But this remarkable transaction seems to have made little impression on the mind of Jeroboam. The words he addressed to the prophet paint his character. We find in them not the slightest trace of recognition of the providence of God, or the least feeling for the real dignity of man. Even with regard to what had happened, he cannot look higher than the human instrument, nor can he believe that any one would act upon any nobler motive than the love of gain. We see all the manners of the worldly politician when we read, that he "said to the man of God, Come