141 At that time was Abijah son of Jeroboam sick, 2 and Jeroboam saith to his wife, 'Rise, I pray thee, and change thyself, and they know not that thou 'art' wife of Jeroboam, and thou hast gone to Shiloh; lo, there 'is' Ahijah the prophet; he spake unto me of 'being' king over this people; 3 and thou hast taken in thy hand ten loaves, and crumbs, and a bottle of honey, and hast gone in unto him; he doth declare to thee what becometh of the youth.' 4 And the wife of Jeroboam doth so, and riseth, and goeth to Shiloh, and entereth the house of Ahijah, and Ahijah is not able to see, for his eyes have stood because of his age. 5 And Jehovah said unto Ahijah, 'Lo, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to seek a word from thee concerning her son, for he is sick; thus and thus thou dost speak unto her, and it cometh to pass at her coming in, that she is making herself strange.' 6 And it cometh to pass, at Ahijah's hearing the sound of her feet 'as' she came in to the opening, that he saith, 'Come in, wife of Jeroboam, why is this—thou art making thyself strange? and I am sent unto thee 'with' a sharp thing:
7 Go, say to Jeroboam, Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Because that I have made thee high out of the midst of the people, and appoint thee leader over my people Israel, 8 and rend the kingdom from the house of David, and give it to thee,—and thou hast not been as My servant David who kept My commands, and who walked after Me with all his heart, to do only that which 'is' right in Mine eyes, 9 and thou dost evil above all who have been before thee, and goest, and makest to thee other gods and molten images to provoke Me to anger, and Me thou hast cast behind thy back: 10 'Therefore, lo, I am bringing in evil unto the house of Jeroboam, and have cut off to Jeroboam those sitting on the wall—shut up and left—in Israel, and have put away the posterity of the house of Jeroboam, as one putteth away the dung till its consumption; 11 him who dieth of Jeroboam in a city do the dogs eat, and him who dieth in a field do fowl of the heavens eat, for Jehovah hath spoken. 12 'And thou, rise, go to thy house; in the going in of thy feet to the city—hath the lad died; 13 and all Israel have mourned for him, and buried him, for this one—by himself—cometh of Jeroboam unto a grave, because there hath been found in him a good thing towards Jehovah, God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. 14 'And Jehovah hath raised up for Him a king over Israel who cutteth off the house of Jeroboam this day—and what?—even now! 15 And Jehovah hath smitten Israel as the reed is moved by the waters, and hath plucked Israel from off this good ground that He gave to their fathers, and scattered them beyond the River, because that they made their shrines, provoking Jehovah to anger; 16 and He giveth up Israel because of the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned, and that he caused Israel to sin.' 17 And the wife of Jeroboam riseth, and goeth, and cometh to Tirzah; she hath come in to the threshold of the house, and the youth dieth; 18 and they bury him, and mourn for him do all Israel, according to the word of Jehovah, that he spake by the hand of His servant Ahijah the prophet. 19 And the rest of the matters of Jeroboam, how he fought, and how he reigned, lo, they are written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel. 20 And the days that Jeroboam reigned 'are' twenty and two years, and he lieth with his fathers, and reign doth Nadab his son in his stead.
21 And Rehoboam son of Solomon hath reigned in Judah; a son of forty and one years 'is' Rehoboam in his reigning, and seventeen years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, the city that Jehovah chose to set His name there, out of all the tribes of Israel, and the name of his mother 'is' Naamah the Ammonitess. 22 And Judah doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and they make Him zealous above all that their fathers did by their sins that they have sinned. 23 And they build—also they—for themselves high places, and standing-pillars, and shrines, on every high height, and under every green tree; 24 and also a whoremonger hath been in the land; they have done according to all the abominations of the nations that Jehovah dispossessed from the presence of the sons of Israel. 25 And it cometh to pass, in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, gone up hath Shishak king of Egypt against Jerusalem, 26 and he taketh the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the house of the king, yea, the whole he hath taken; and he taketh all the shields of gold that Solomon made. 27 And king Rehoboam maketh in their stead shields of brass, and hath made 'them' a charge on the hand of the heads of the runners, those keeping the opening of the house of the king, 28 and it cometh to pass, from the going in of the king to the house of Jehovah, the runners bear them, and have brought them back unto the chamber of the runners. 29 And the rest of the matters of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? 30 And war hath been between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days; 31 and Rehoboam lieth with his fathers, and is buried with his fathers, in the city of David, and the name of his mother 'is' Naamah the Ammonitess, and reign doth Abijam his son in his stead.
151 And in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam son of Nebat, reigned hath Abijam over Judah; 2 three years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother 'is' Maachah daughter of Abishalom; 3 and he walketh in all the sins of his father, that he did before him, and his heart hath not been perfect with Jehovah his God, as the heart of David his father; 4 but for David's sake hath Jehovah his God given to him a lamp in Jerusalem, to raise up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem, 5 in that David did that which 'is' right in the eyes of Jehovah, and turned not aside from all that He commanded him all days of his life—only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite; 6 and war hath been between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. 7 And the rest of the matters of Abijam, and all that he did, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? And war hath been between Abijam and Jeroboam; 8 and Abijam lieth with his fathers, and they bury him in the city of David, and reign doth Asa his son in his stead.
9 And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned hath Asa over Judah, 10 and forty and one years he hath reigned in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother 'is' Maachah daughter of Abishalom. 11 And Asa doth that which 'is' right in the eyes of Jehovah, like David his father, 12 and removeth the whoremongers out of the land, and turneth aside all the idols that his fathers made; 13 and also Maachah his mother—he turneth her aside from being mistress, in that she made a horrible thing for a shrine, and Asa cutteth down her horrible thing, and burneth 'it' by the brook Kidron; 14 and the high places have not turned aside; only, the heart of Asa hath been perfect with Jehovah all his days, 15 and he bringeth in the sanctified things of his father, and his own sanctified things, to the house of Jehovah, silver, and gold, and vessels.
16 And war hath been between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days, 17 and Baasha king of Israel goeth up against Judah, and buildeth Ramah, not to permit any one going out and coming in to Asa king of Judah. 18 And Asa taketh all the silver and the gold that are left in the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the house of the king, and giveth them into the hand of his servants, and king Asa sendeth them unto Ben-Hadad, son of Tabrimmon, son of Hezion king of Aram, who is dwelling in Damascus, saying, 19 'A covenant 'is' between me and thee, between my father and thy father; lo, I have sent to thee a reward of silver and gold; go, break thy covenant with Baasha king of Israel, and he goeth up from off me.' 20 And Ben-Hadad hearkeneth unto king Asa, and sendeth the heads of the forces that he hath against cities of Israel, and smiteth Ijon, and Dan, and Abel-Beth-Maachah, and all Chinneroth, besides all the land of Naphtali; 21 and it cometh to pass at Baasha's hearing, that he ceaseth from building Ramah, and dwelleth in Tirzah. 22 And king Asa hath summoned all Judah—there is none exempt—and they lift up the stones of Ramah, and its wood, that Baasha hath built, and king Asa buildeth with them Geba of Benjamin, and Mizpah. 23 And the rest of all the matters of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? Only, at the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet; 24 and Asa lieth with his fathers, and is buried with his fathers in the city of David his father, and Jehoshaphat his son reigneth in his stead.
25 And Nadab son of Jeroboam hath reigned over Israel, in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigneth over Israel two years, 26 and doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and goeth in the way of his father, and in his sin that he made Israel to sin. 27 And conspire against him doth Baasha son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, and Baasha smiteth him in Gibbethon, which 'is' to the Philistines—and Nadab and all Israel are laying siege against Gibbethon— 28 yea, Baasha putteth him to death in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigneth in his stead. 29 And it cometh to pass, at his reigning, he hath smitten the whole house of Jeroboam, he hath not left any breathing to Jeroboam till his destroying him, according to the word of Jehovah, that He spake by the hand of His servant Ahijah the Shilonite, 30 because of the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned, and that he caused Israel to sin, by his provocation with which he provoked to anger Jehovah, God of Israel. 31 And the rest of the matters of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written on the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? 32 And war hath been between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.
33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah reigned hath Baasha son of Ahijah over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty and four years, 34 and he doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and walketh in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin that he caused Israel to sin.
31 And the Lord said, 'Simon, Simon, lo, the Adversary did ask you for himself to sift as the wheat, 32 and I besought for thee, that thy faith may not fail; and thou, when thou didst turn, strengthen thy brethren.' 33 And he said to him, 'Sir, with thee I am ready both to prison and to death to go;' 34 and he said, 'I say to thee, Peter, a cock shall not crow to-day, before thrice thou mayest disown knowing me.'
35 And he said to them, 'When I sent you without bag, and scrip, and sandals, did ye lack anything?' and they said, 'Nothing.' 36 Then said he to them, 'But, now, he who is having a bag, let him take 'it' up, and in like manner also a scrip; and he who is not having, let him sell his garment, and buy a sword, 37 for I say to you, that yet this that hath been written it behoveth to be fulfilled in me: And with lawless ones he was reckoned, for also the things concerning me have an end.' 38 And they said, 'Sir, lo, here 'are' two swords;' and he said to them, 'It is sufficient.'
39 And having gone forth, he went on, according to custom, to the mount of the Olives, and his disciples also followed him, 40 and having come to the place, he said to them, 'Pray ye not to enter into temptation.' 41 And he was withdrawn from them, as it were a stone's cast, and having fallen on the knees he was praying, 42 saying, 'Father, if Thou be counselling to make this cup pass from me—; but, not my will, but Thine be done.'— 43 And there appeared to him a messenger from heaven strengthening him; 44 and having been in agony, he was more earnestly praying, and his sweat became, as it were, great drops of blood falling upon the ground. 45 And having risen up from the prayer, having come unto the disciples, he found them sleeping from the sorrow, 46 and he said to them, 'Why do ye sleep? having risen, pray that ye may not enter into temptation.'
(Read Luke 22:21-38)
How unbecoming is the worldly ambition of being the greatest, to the character of a follower of Jesus, who took upon him the form of a servant, and humbled himself to the death of the cross! In the way to eternal happiness, we must expect to be assaulted and sifted by Satan. If he cannot destroy, he will try to disgrace or distress us. Nothing more certainly forebodes a fall, in a professed follower of Christ, than self-confidence, with disregard to warnings, and contempt of danger. Unless we watch and pray always, we may be drawn in the course of the day into those sins which we were in the morning most resolved against. If believers were left to themselves, they would fall; but they are kept by the power of God, and the prayer of Christ. Our Lord gave notice of a very great change of circumstances now approaching. The disciples must not expect that their friends would be kind to them as they had been. Therefore, he that has a purse, let him take it, for he may need it. They must now expect that their enemies would be more fierce than they had been, and they would need weapons. At the time the apostles understood Christ to mean real weapons, but he spake only of the weapons of the spiritual warfare. The sword of the Spirit is the sword with which the disciples of Christ must furnish themselves.
(Read Luke 22:39-46)
Every description which the evangelists give of the state of mind in which our Lord entered upon this conflict, proves the tremendous nature of the assault, and the perfect foreknowledge of its terrors possessed by the meek and lowly Jesus. Here are three things not in the other evangelists. 1. When Christ was in his agony, there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. It was a part of his humiliation that he was thus strengthened by a ministering spirit. 2. Being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. Prayer, though never out of season, is in a special manner seasonable when we are in an agony. 3. In this agony his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down. This showed the travail of his soul. We should pray also to be enabled to resist unto the shedding of our blood, striving against sin, if ever called to it. When next you dwell in imagination upon the delights of some favourite sin, think of its effects as you behold them here! See its fearful effects in the garden of Gethsemane, and desire, by the help of God, deeply to hate and to forsake that enemy, to ransom sinners from whom the Redeemer prayed, agonized, and bled.
