same thing? But who is this child? Luke, first chapter, answers" And shalt call his name Jesus; and he shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over THE HOUSE OF JACOB FOREVER." There can be no doubt but that Christ is the true and promised heir to David's throne, and under him it is to endure FOREVER.

Solomon was a type of Christ, and built an house of cedar-but Christ is to build a church or temple of living stones-a habitation of God through the Spirit.

2. The territory over which David bare rule, was the land of promise, described by God to Abraham thus"Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates." Gen. xv. 18. Over this territory, the kingdom of Israel was extended in the days of Solomon. 1 Kings iv. 21, 24. "And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life. For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river and he had peace on all sides round about him."

3. The heirs and subjects of the kingdom were an elect people. 2 Chron. vi. 5, 6. "Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there: neither chose I any man to be over my people Israel. But I have

chosen Jerusalem, that my name should be there; and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.” Israel is an elect people. Abraham was elected from all the families of the earth to be the father of the whole church of God-the father of the faithful-the father of many nations-the family in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed. And this promise was when he had no child. His first-born, and the natural heir, Ishmael, was rejected, and the second, Isaac, was elected. In Isaac shall thy seed be called. Of Isaac's

seed, to whom the promise was confirmed, Esau was rejected and Jacob chosen, and his name was called Israel. Of his seed, God raised up a church, and gave it an independent and divine system of civil and political government, under his own supervision-the twelve tribes of Jacob were its heirs. Others were conditionally elected to the same privileges. A provision was established in the law of Moses, by which Gentiles might be admitted to a participation in the privileges and immunities of the kingdom. But they came in by identifying themselves with the elect family.

4. The metropolis, or capital of the kingdom, was Jerusalem. 2 Samuel v. 39. "So all the elders of Israel came to the king, to Hebron; and king David made a league with them in Hebron, before the Lord; and they anointed David king over Israel. David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all Israel and Judah. And the king and his men went to Jerusalem, unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land; which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither; thinking, David cannot come in hither. Nevertheless, David took the strong-hold of Zion: and the same is the city of David. And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David's soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house. So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Milo and inward." Also 2 Chron. vi. 6. "I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there, and have chosen David to be over my people Israel." The reader can find abundant testimony on this point by a little pains.

From the foregoing particulars, we learn that the identity of the kingdom consists, 1. In the royalty of David's house. 2. The territory, the land promised

Abraham and his seed. 3. Subjects and heirs, an elect people of Abraham's seed or family. 4. The capital at Jerusalem, and the government of divine origin.

II. THE SUBVERSION OF THE KINGDOM-WHEN, AND FOR WHAT CAUSE.

Although God promised unconditionally, and by an oath, to perpetuate David's throne, kingdom, and seed eternally; yet the temporal succession was conditional. "Yet, so that thy children take heed to their way to walk before me as thou hast walked before me." Again, "If thy children transgress my law," &c., "then will I visit their transgressions with a rod, and their iniquities with stripes; nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail." The Lord also made the same covenant with Solomon, 1 Kings ix. 2-7: "The Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication that thou hast made before me. I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there forever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually. And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments; then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel forever, as I promised to David, thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel. But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them; then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a by-word among all people." The conditions of this covenant are plain. If Solomon and his children were obedient,

his throne should continue, and the promise to David, "There shall never fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel." But if either he, or his children, turned from God's commandment, "Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given, and Israel shall be a proverb and a by-word among all people." Solomon violated that covenant, and the kingdom was rent from his son. 1 Kings xi. 6, 9, 13: "And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared to him twice; and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he kept not that which the Lord commanded. Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. Notwithstanding, in thy days I will not do it, for David thy father's sake; but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. Howbeit, I will not rend away all the kingdom, but will give one tribe to thy son, for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen " When the ten tribes were rent from the house of David and given to Jeroboam, it was with this declaration on the part of Jehovah: "And I will afflict the seed of David, but not forever." 1 Kings xi. 39.

After Solomon's death, Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead in Jerusalem. He oppressed the house of Israel, and the ten tribes revolted from him, and left only Judah and part of Benjamin to the house of David. Rehoboam reigned over them in Jerusalem on the throne of David, and Jeroboam reigned over Israel in Samaria. Hoshea was the last king of the ten tribes, and was carried captive by the king of Assyria, B. C. 742. 2 Kings xvii. 1-6, 13-23. "In the twelfth year of Ahaz, king of Judah, began Hoshea the son of Elah, to reign in Samaria over Israel nine years. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord,

but not as the kings of Israel that were before him. Against him came up Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him presents. And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and brought no present to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison. Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozen, and in the cities of the Medes. Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments, and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. Notwithstanding, they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the necks of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them. And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even to calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. Therefore, the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah only. Also, Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made. And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them,