Though there may be some question as to the strict veracity of the author
of the Book of Kings, yet, as he was evidently a thorough churchman, there
can be no doubt that he has faithfully preserved the traditions of the
hierarchy; his chronicle therefore presents, as it were, a perfect mirror,
wherein are reflected the workings of the ecclesiastical mind through many
generations. According to his account, the theocracy only triumphed after
a long and doubtful struggle. Samuel must have been an exceptionally able
man, for, though he failed to control Saul, it was through his intrigues
that David was enthroned, who was profoundly orthodox; yet Solomon lapsed
again into heresy, and Jeroboam added to schism the even blacker crime of
making "priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of
Levi," [Footnote: I Kings xii. 31.] and in consequence he has come down to
posterity as the man who made Israel to sin. Ahab married Jezebel, who
introduced the worship of Baal, and gave the support of government to a
rival church. She therefore roused a hate which has made her immortal; but
it was not until the reign of her son Jehoram that Elisha apparently felt
strong enough to execute a plot he had made with one of the generals to
precipitate a revolution, in which the whole of the house of Ahab should
be murdered and the heretics exterminated.
Pages:
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319