101 Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the princes of Jizreel, to the elders, and to Ahab's guardians, saying, 2 And now, when this letter comes to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots, and horses, and a fortified city, and armour, 3 look out the best and worthiest of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house. 4 And they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings stood not before him; and how shall we stand? 5 And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, and the elders, and the guardians sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any one king; do what is good in thy sight. 6 And he wrote a letter the second time to them saying, If ye are mine, and will hearken to my voice, take the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jizreel to-morrow at this time. Now the king's sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up. 7 And it came to pass when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slaughtered seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jizreel. 8 And a messenger came and told him saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning. 9 And it came to pass in the morning that he went out; and he stood, and said to all the people, Ye are righteous! behold, I conspired against my master and killed him; but who smote all these? 10 Know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the word of Jehovah, which Jehovah spoke concerning the house of Ahab; for Jehovah has done that which he said through his servant Elijah. 11 And Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jizreel, and all his great men, and his acquaintances, and his priests, until he left him none remaining. 12 And he rose up and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shepherds' meeting-place on the way, 13 Jehu found the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they said, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and have come down to salute the children of the king, and the children of the queen. 14 And he said, Take them alive! And they took them alive, and slew them at the well of the meeting-place, forty-two men; and he left not one of them remaining.
15 And he departed thence, and found Jehonadab the son of Rechab [coming] to meet him; and he greeted him, and said to him, Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab said, It is.—If it be, give [me] thy hand.—And he gave [him] his hand; and [Jehu] took him up to him into the chariot, 16 and said, Come with me, and see my zeal for Jehovah. So they made him ride in his chariot. 17 And he came to Samaria, and smote all that remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of Jehovah which he spoke to Elijah.
18 And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little: Jehu will serve him much. 19 And now call me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests: let none be wanting; for I have a great sacrifice [to do] to Baal; whoever shall be wanting shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, in order that he might bring destruction upon the servants of Baal. 20 And Jehu said, Hallow a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed [it]. 21 And Jehu sent into all Israel; and all the servants of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not: and they entered into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to the other. 22 And he said to him that was over the wardrobe, Bring forth vestments for all the servants of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments. 23 And Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Rechab entered into the house of Baal, and said to the servants of Baal, Search, and see that there be here with you none of the servants of Jehovah, but the servants of Baal only. 24 And they entered in to offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings. Now Jehu appointed eighty men without, and said, He that allows any of the men to escape that I have brought into your hands, his life shall be for the life of him. 25 And it came to pass as soon as they had ended offering up the burnt-offering, that Jehu said to the couriers and to the captains, Go in, slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the couriers and the captains cast [them] there. And they went to the city of the house of Baal, 26 and brought forth the columns out of the house of Baal, and burned them; 27 and they broke down the column of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a draught-house to this day. 28 Thus Jehu extirpated Baal out of Israel.
29 Only, the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, from them Jehu departed not: [from] the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan. 30 And Jehovah said to Jehu, Because thou hast executed well that which is right in my sight, [and] hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, thy children of the fourth [generation] shall sit on the throne of Israel. 31 But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of Jehovah the God of Israel with all his heart; he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin. 32 In those days Jehovah began to cut Israel short; and Hazael smote them in all the borders of Israel; 33 from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, both Gilead and Bashan. 34 And the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 35 And Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria: and Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead. 36 Now the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.
111 And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose up and destroyed all the royal seed. 2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, the sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, [and hid] him and his nurse in the bedchamber; and they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. 3 And he was with her hid in the house of Jehovah six years. And Athaliah reigned over the land.
4 And in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the captains of the hundreds, of the bodyguard and the couriers, and brought them to him into the house of Jehovah, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of Jehovah, and shewed them the king's son. 5 And he commanded them saying, This is the thing which ye shall do: a third part of you, that come in on the sabbath, shall be keepers of the watch of the king's house; 6 and a third part shall be at the gate of Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the couriers; and ye shall keep the watch of the house for a defence. 7 And the two parts of you, all those that go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of Jehovah about the king. 8 And ye shall encompass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and he that comes within the ranks shall be put to death; and ye shall be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in. 9 And the captains of the hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and they took every man his men, those that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that were to go forth on the sabbath, and they came to Jehoiada the priest. 10 And the priest gave to the captains of the hundreds king David's spears and shields which were in the house of Jehovah. 11 And the couriers stood by the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, toward the altar and the house. 12 And he brought forth the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and [gave him] the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, Long live the king!
13 And Athaliah heard the noise of the couriers [and] of the people; and she came to the people into the house of Jehovah. 14 And she looked, and behold, the king stood on the dais, according to the custom, and the princes and the trumpeters were by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets. And Athaliah rent her garments and cried, Conspiracy! Conspiracy! 15 And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds that were set over the host, and said to them, Lead her forth without the ranks; and whosoever follows her, slay with the sword; for the priest said, Let her not be put to death in the house of Jehovah. 16 And they made way for her, and she went by the way by which the horses entered the king's house, and there was she put to death.
17 And Jehoiada made a covenant between Jehovah and the king and the people, that they should be the people of Jehovah; and between the king and the people. 18 Then all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and broke it down: his altars and his images they broke in pieces completely, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of Jehovah. 19 And he took the captains of the hundreds, and the bodyguard, and the couriers, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of Jehovah, and came by the way through the gate of the couriers into the king's house. And he sat upon the throne of the kings. 20 And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet; and they had slain Athaliah with the sword [beside] the king's house. 21 Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign.
121 In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash began to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. 2 And Jehoash did what was right in the sight of Jehovah, all the days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him. 3 Only, the high places were not removed: the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
4 And Jehoash said to the priests, All the money of the hallowed things that is brought into the house of Jehovah, the money of every one that passes [the account], the money at which every man is valued, [and] all the money that comes into any man's heart to bring into the house of Jehovah, 5 let the priests take it, every man of his acquaintance; and let them repair the breaches of the house, wherever any breach is found. 6 And it was [so that] in the twenty-third year of king Jehoash, the priests had not repaired the breaches of the house. 7 Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the priests, and said to them, Why have ye not repaired the breaches of the house? And now receive no money of your acquaintances, but give it for the breaches of the house. 8 And the priests consented to receive no money of the people, and that they should only repair the breaches of the house. 9 And Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and bored a hole in the lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of Jehovah; and the priests that kept the door put into it all the money brought into the house of Jehovah. 10 And it came to pass when they saw that there was much money in the chest, that the king's scribe and the high priest came up, and they tied up and counted the money that was found in the house of Jehovah. 11 And they gave the money, weighed out into the hands of them that did the work, who were appointed over the house of Jehovah; and they laid it out to the carpenters and builders that wrought upon the house of Jehovah, 12 and to masons, and hewers of stone, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the breaches of the house of Jehovah, and for all that had to be laid out on the house for repairs. 13 However there were not made for the house of Jehovah basons of silver, knives, bowls, trumpets, nor any utensil of gold or utensil of silver, of the money that was brought [into] the house of Jehovah; 14 but they gave that to the workmen, and repaired the house of Jehovah with it. 15 And they did not reckon with the men into whose hand they gave the money to be bestowed on workmen; for they dealt faithfully. 16 The money of trespass-offerings, and the money of sin-offerings, was not brought into the house of Jehovah: it was for the priests.
17 Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and took it. And Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem. 18 And Jehoash king of Judah took all the hallowed things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own hallowed things, and all the gold found in the treasures of the house of Jehovah and in the king's house, and sent it to Hazael king of Syria; and he went away from Jerusalem. 19 And the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 20 And his servants rose up and made a conspiracy, and smote Joash in the house of Millo, at the descent of Silla. 21 And Jozachar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, smote him and he died; and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.
29 On the morrow he sees Jesus coming to him, and says, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. 30 He it is of whom I said, A man comes after me who takes a place before me, because he was before me; 31 and I knew him not; but that he might be manifested to Israel, therefore have I come baptising with water. 32 And John bore witness, saying, I beheld the Spirit descending as a dove from heaven, and it abode upon him. 33 And I knew him not; but he who sent me to baptise with water, he said to me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, he it is who baptises with [the] Holy Spirit. 34 And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God.
35 Again, on the morrow, there stood John and two of his disciples. 36 And, looking at Jesus as he walked, he says, Behold the Lamb of God.
37 And the two disciples heard him speaking, and followed Jesus. 38 But Jesus having turned, and seeing them following, says to them, What seek ye? And they said to him, Rabbi (which, being interpreted, signifies Teacher), where abidest thou? 39 He says to them, Come and see. They went therefore, and saw where he abode; and they abode with him that day. It was about the tenth hour. 40 Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard [this] from John and followed him. 41 He first finds his own brother Simon, and says to him, We have found the Messias (which being interpreted is Christ). 42 And he led him to Jesus. Jesus looking at him said, Thou art Simon, the son of Jonas; thou shalt be called Cephas (which interpreted is stone).
43 On the morrow he would go forth into Galilee, and Jesus finds Philip, and says to him, Follow me. 44 And Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip finds Nathanael, and says to him, We have found him of whom Moses wrote in the law, and the prophets, Jesus, the son of Joseph, who is from Nazareth. 46 And Nathanael said to him, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip says to him, Come and see. 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and says of him, Behold [one] truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile. 48 Nathanael says to him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw thee. 49 Nathanael answered and said to him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of Israel. 50 Jesus answered and said to him, Because I said to thee, I saw thee under the fig-tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these. 51 And he says to him, Verily, verily, I say to you, Henceforth ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man.
(Read John 1:29-36)
John saw Jesus coming to him, and pointed him out as the Lamb of God. The paschal lamb, in the shedding and sprinkling of its blood, the roasting and eating of its flesh, and all the other circumstances of the ordinance, represented the salvation of sinners by faith in Christ. And the lambs sacrificed every morning and evening, can only refer to Christ slain as a sacrifice to redeem us to God by his blood. John came as a preacher of repentance, yet he told his followers that they were to look for the pardon of their sins to Jesus only, and to his death. It agrees with God's glory to pardon all who depend on the atoning sacrifice of Christ. He takes away the sin of the world; purchases pardon for all that repent and believe the gospel. This encourages our faith; if Christ takes away the sin of the world, then why not my sin? He bore sin for us, and so bears it from us. God could have taken away sin, by taking away the sinner, as he took away the sin of the old world; but here is a way of doing away sin, yet sparing the sinner, by making his Son sin, that is, a sin-offering, for us. See Jesus taking away sin, and let that cause hatred of sin, and resolutions against it. Let us not hold that fast, which the Lamb of God came to take away. To confirm his testimony concerning Christ, John declares the appearance at his baptism, in which God himself bore witness to him. He saw and bare record that he is the Son of God. This is the end and object of John's testimony, that Jesus was the promised Messiah. John took every opportunity that offered to lead people to Christ.
(Read John 1:37-42)
The strongest and most prevailing argument with an awakened soul to follow Christ, is, that it is he only who takes away sin. Whatever communion there is between our souls and Christ, it is he who begins the discourse. He asked, What seek ye? The question Jesus put to them, we should all put to ourselves when we begin to follow Him, What do we design and desire? In following Christ, do we seek the favour of God and eternal life? He invites them to come without delay. Now is the accepted time, 2 Corinthians 6:2. It is good for us to be where Christ is, wherever it be. We ought to labour for the spiritual welfare of those related to us, and seek to bring them to Him. Those who come to Christ, must come with a fixed resolution to be firm and constant to him, like a stone, solid and stedfast; and it is by his grace that they are so.
(Read John 1:43-51)
See the nature of true Christianity, it is following Jesus; devoting ourselves to him, and treading in his steps. Observe the objection Nathanael made. All who desire to profit by the word of God, must beware of prejudices against places, or denominations of men. They should examine for themselves, and they will sometimes find good where they looked for none. Many people are kept from the ways of religion by the unreasonable prejudices they conceive. The best way to remove false notions of religion, is to make trial of it. In Nathanael there was no guile. His profession was not hypocritical. He was not a dissembler, nor dishonest; he was a sound character, a really upright, godly man. Christ knows what men are indeed. Does He know us? Let us desire to know him. Let us seek and pray to be Israelites indeed, in whom is no guile; truly Christians, approved of Christ himself. Some things weak, imperfect, and sinful, are found in all, but hypocrisy belongs not to a believer's character. Jesus witnessed what passed when Nathanael was under the fig-tree. Probably he was then in fervent prayer, seeking direction as to the Hope and Consolation of Israel, where no human eye observed him. This showed him that our Lord knew the secrets of his heart. Through Christ we commune with, and benefit by the holy angels; and things in heaven and things on earth are reconciled and united together.
