And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.

And he went forth and warred against the Philistines, and brake down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and built cities about Ashdod, and among the Philistines.

And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians that dwelt in Gur-baal, and the Mehunims.

And the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah: and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of Egypt; for he strengthened himself exceedingly. Moreover Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the corner gate, and at the valley gate, and at the turning* of the wall, and fortified them.

Also he built towers in the desert, and digged many wells: for he had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the plains: husbandmen also, and vine-dressers in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he loved husbandry. Moreover Uzziah had an host of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their account by the hand of Jeiel the scribe and Maaseiah the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king's captains.

The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the mighty men of valour were two thousand and six hundred.

And under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy.

And Uzziah prepared for them throughout all the host shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, † and bows, and slings to cast stones.

And he made in Jerusalem engines, invented by cunning‡ men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong.

But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.

And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the LORD, that were valiant men :

And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honour from the LORD God.

Then Uzziah was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to burn incense : and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar.

And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the LORD had smitten him.

And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several § house, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of * Projecting corner.

+ Coats of mail.

Skilful.

§ Separate.

the LORD and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.

COMMENT.-The young prince who succeeded the unhappy Amaziah on the throne of Judah is called Azariah in the Book of Kings, but Uzziah in the Book of Chronicles and by all the prophets who mention him. It does, indeed, seem as though the hope given by Joel that the Lord would "return and repent, and leave a blessing behind Him,” were fulfilled, when, after the evil days at the end of Amaziah's reign, and as some think after a kingless time of confusion, a true-hearted prince rose up and did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, prospering as none had prospered since Jehoshaphat. After the time of depression which Judah and Israel had alike suffered from the Syrians, both were now enjoying a wonderful time of victorious prosperity. While Israel stretched her power even to Damascus, Judah made conquests among her old enemies the Philistines, breaking down the walls of their old cities Gath and Ashdod, and settling colonies round them to keep them in check. He likewise, as we are told in 2 Kings xiv., rebuilt Elath, the port on the Red Sea, and restored it to Judah, which implies that he had power over Edom-indeed, the Mehunims are known to have been dwellers in Mount Seir, and Gur-baal is supposed to have been there likewise. The Ammonites brought him gifts, and he was feared even to the borders of Egypt, while at home he fortified Jerusalem, building towers for the defence of her walls and gates, apparently one at each corner, and strengthening them further with engines of war for throwing stones or beams on a besieger. He had a great, wellordered army, like David and Jehoshaphat, and he likewise loved husbandry, and cultivated vines in Carmel, the fruitful-Abigail's Carmel, not Elijah's, which was in Israel. He dug wells for his flocks, and built towers to protect them, lest, as in Deborah's time, there should be the noise of archers in the places of drawing water. And not only was he outwardly great, but his kingdom, like Jeroboam's, was distinguished by an overflow of prophecy. It was perhaps a first fulfilment of that promise of Joel's of the pouring forth of the Spirit, for, besides the Zechariah who guided his youth, and who has left no writings, Hosea, Amos, Obadiah, and Jonah all lived in his time; and the greatest of all the prophets, Isaiah himself,

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wrote a history of him, of which only this fragment is preserved. But in spite of all the outward prosperity, these prophecies in the time of those two mighty and successful princes, Jeroboam II. and Uzziah, were chiefly songs of woe. Israel was doomed; Judah was warned, for there was rottenness at her heart; and the King himself became uplifted by his success. The same temptation beset him as had beset Saul—that of resembling the kings of heathen nations by adding the office of the priest to his dignity. His long course of success made him presume that there was nothing he could not attempt; he had moreover married a priest's daughter, Jerusha, and he insisted on leading the devotions of the people by burning incense. But were not the broad plates of brass made of the censers of Korah and his company still testifying that no stranger which is not of the seed of Aaron come near to offer incense before the Lord?" (Numb. xvi. 40). It took no small courage to withstand so powerful a king, one moreover whose grandfather had slain a priest before the altar; but Azariah the high priest, with eighty more brave sons of Aaron, stood forth, as Uzziah came forward, censer in hand, to the Holy Place, where stood the altar of incense, and which no unpriestly foot had ever trod. Uzziah's anger at the resistance was great. He contended with the priest in his pride and passion. But full in the midst he was smitten, not with flame like Korah, but with the deadly whiteness of leprosy-" Unclean, unclean!" Stricken to the soul, the unhappy king could only hurry away from all his glory of pomp and power, his wars and his beneficent plans, to hide himself in a lonely house, while his son dwelt in the palace and governed the country. His living death, lasting in gradual decay and loathsome corruption, was probably the truest mercy. Though cut off from outward worship, he might still lift up his prayer, and it was well for him that he should die in humility rather than in his pride and vainglory. And so his name remains a warning to us in common life, that "his heart which is lifted up is not right in him," and that "he that thinketh he standeth must take heed lest he fall." Nor is it less a warning that where God has appointed His priests to minister before Him, it is both presumptuous and dangerous to intrude into their office, or for unconsecrated hands to meddle with holy things.

LESSON LIV.*

AMOS THE HERDSMAN.

ABOUT B.C. 800.-AMOS i. and ii. (abridged).

The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.

*

*

*

Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four,

I will not turn away the punishment thereof;

Because they have despised the law of the LORD,
And have not kept his commandments,

And their lies caused them to err,

After the which their fathers have walked:

But I will send a fire upon Judah,

And it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem.

Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four,

I will not turn away the punishment thereof;

Because they sold the righteous for silver,

And the poor for a pair of shoes;

And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every
altar;

And they drink the wine of the condemned† in the house of their god.
Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them,

Whose height was like the height of the cedars,

And he was strong as the oaks;

Yet I destroyed his fruit from above,

And his roots from beneath.

Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt,

And led you forty years through the wilderness,

To possess the land of the Amorite.

And I raised up of your sons for prophets,

And of your young men for Nazarites.

Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the LORD.

But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink;

And commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.

Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.

Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift,
And the strong shall not strengthen his force,
Neither shall the mighty deliver himself:
Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow;

And he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself:
Neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.
And he that is courageous among the mighty

Shall flee away naked in that day, saith the LORD.

COMMENT.-Uzziah, we read, loved husbandry, and had many cattle. Among the herdsmen of his time, in the little village of Tekoa, on a high hill twelve miles from Jerusalem, was a man named Amos, not bred in the schools of the prophets, but chosen out by God to receive His message of inspiration. He says the word of the Lord came to him in the days of the two kings Uzziah and Jeroboam, two years before the earthquake. This earthquake must have been a very dreadful one, for it is mentioned in a book written after the captivity (Zech. xiv. 5). The later Jews thought that it took place at the moment of Uzziah's intrusion; but the best calculations do not agree with this, as Jotham, Uzziah's son, who took the government on his incapacity, was not born when Jeroboam died. Amos begins his prophecy with the words of Joel, "The Lord will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem "—that is, as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. This, no doubt, was first fulfilled by the terrors of the earthquake. Then Amos goes on, in briefer and simpler verse than his more trained brethren, to foretell God's punishments, first to the Syrians, Philistines, Tyrians, Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites, all the foes of Israel, who shall suffer for their savage cruelties to one another.

Indeed, Syria was already weakened by Israel, and Philistia, Edom, and Ammon had felt the power of Judah; but in the midst of their prosperity, just such a sentence is pronounced on them, beginning in the same terms, as those upon the heathen. Judah itself, in spite of the Temple and of all its outward worship, still secretly followed after the lies their forefathers had loved. It should have its punishment. Fire should burn its Temple and palaces— as befell, indeed, many and many a time.

But Israel's crimes were much more deeply dyed, and are here named. They are not the idolatry, the offence against God, but cruel offences against their neighbour-a slave-trade first, it seems.