The Story of the Chosen People (Yesterday's Classics) (19 page)

His fear was gone, and when the Syrian army drew near to take Elisha captive, he saw that all the men were struck with sudden blindness. Helpless, and not knowing where to turn, they allowed themselves to be led into the capital of their enemies, where Elisha not only restored their sight, but persuaded the King of Israel to let them go home unharmed.

T
HE
king, whom Elisha had helped so many times in the war against the Syrians, was Joram. As we have already seen, this ruler of Israel allowed idolatry; and now God withdrew his protection from him, and even permitted the Syrians to march into his kingdom and besiege his capital.

During this siege the people of Samaria suffered much from famine, and at last had nothing to eat but dogs, cats, and mice. We are told that their hunger was so great that some of the inhabitants even became cannibals, and that mothers ate their own children.

The king, who pretended that Elisha was to blame for all these troubles, finally sent for him, intending to cut off his head. But the prophet refused to go to court, and bade the messengers go back and tell the king that there would be plenty of food at Samaria on the morrow. All the Samaritans believed this prophecy except one man, and he was told that, in punishment for his unbelief, he alone would not eat of the promised plenty.

That selfsame day, four lepers went into the Syrian camp. While they were there, they heard "a noise of chariots and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host." These sounds caused a panic in the camp, and the Syrians fled in haste, leaving their tents and all their stock of provisions behind them.

After satisfying their own hunger, and securing much plunder, the lepers went and told this news to the king. Then all the people of Samaria swarmed out of the city, and rushed into the deserted camp, where they found plenty to eat. Elisha's prediction was fulfilled in every particular; for the man who had doubted his word was trodden under foot and killed by the hungry multitude as they rushed toward the Syrian camp.

We are told in the Bible that Elisha worked one more miracle, many years after his death. It seems that the gravediggers once hastily flung a body into his grave. As soon as this corpse touched the dead prophet's bones, it came to life again, and the man walked home as if nothing had happened to him.

While Joram was reigning over Israel, another Joram became king of Judah. This man was the son of Jehoshaphat, and had married Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, who influenced him to set up idols.

So great was the wickedness of this king of Judah, we are told, that his reign would have been the last, had not the Lord remembered his covenant with David, and the promise which he had made, that the house of that great king should last.

So, instead of being entirely cut off, Joram, King of Judah, had many troubles. In the first place, several of his cities rose up against him. Then the Philistines and their allies came into his kingdom, plundered his palace, and carried off all his family into captivity, except one son. Last of all, Joram of Judah became very ill, as a prophet had foretold, and died after much suffering, leaving his throne to his son Ahaziah. This young king was so wicked that he was allowed to rule only one year before he too was forced to give up the crown.

You remember, do you not, how Joram, King of Israel, was killed by his captain, Jehu? Well, at that time, Ahaziah of Judah was on a visit to the King of Israel, and rode out of the city with him on the day of his death. When Joram was shot, Ahaziah fled, but he too had been struck by one of Jehu's arrows, and soon died.

It was not enough to have killed two kings and one queen, so Jehu slew also many other members of the royal house of Israel. In fact, only one member of Ahab's family was now left. This was Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, King of Judah. As soon as Athaliah heard that her son was dead, she treacherously killed, as she thought, all her children and grandchildren, so that she might wield the royal scepter herself, and keep up the worship of Baal in Judah.

But her grandson Joash, the son of Ahaziah, was saved by his nurses, who carried him, bleeding and almost lifeless, to his aunt, the wife of the high priest. She gladly received this little charge, and brought him up in the temple in secret.

Joash himself did not know who he really was, and Athaliah was allowed to reign over Judah undisturbed for more than six years. But in the seventh year, a conspiracy was formed by the high priest, and Joash was proclaimed king in the temple.

The priests, armed with the sacred weapons, stood around the child king, ready to defend him, when Athaliah suddenly burst into the temple. She had heard rumors of an uprising, and came there to put it down with a high hand. When she saw her own grandson seated upon the throne, and heard the joyful shouts of the people, she would have liked to flee.

But it was too late. The measure of her crimes was full, and the priests killed her just as she was about to escape. Many of her followers were also slain, and the heathen idols which she had worshiped were banished from the kingdom.

T
HE
new king, Joash, was only seven years old, so the high priest ruled in his stead, and under his wise management, "all the people of the land rejoiced." It now seemed that with two such kings as Joash and Jehu, the kingdoms of Judah and Israel must long prosper; but, as we shall see, their happiness soon came to an end.

Jehu was the first to relax his efforts to reform his people, and when he too finally sank into idolatry, he was made to suffer for his sins by the King of Syria, who invaded his realm. When Jehu died, he was succeeded by his son Jehoahaz. This king also sinned, and for this reason he was forced to fight against Syria throughout his reign of seventeen years.

During this time, the kingdom of Judah prospered under the rule of Joash. Advised by the high priest, this king not only destroyed all the idols, but he undertook to repair the temple, and to make new vessels for it to replace those which Athaliah had taken for the service of Baal. All the people were asked to give money for this purpose, and, so that none should know how much each man gave, the king made the first money chest, which was placed at the gate of the temple. There was a slit in the cover of this box, which was opened every day, when the money was counted and given over to the man who had charge of the repairs.

Joash reigned forty years, and as long as he kept the religion of his fathers, the kingdom prospered; but when he began to worship idols, trouble came. Zechariah, his foster brother, who was now high priest, once scolded Joash for worshiping idols. This reproof made the king so angry that he had the priest stoned to death, although he had once loved him dearly.

In punishment for this crime, the Lord now allowed the King of Syria to come into Jerusalem, and carry away the treasures of the palace and temple. The enemy caused much suffering to the people of Judah, who were angry at Joash for bringing them such misfortune. Some of them even forgot that he was their king, and allowed his own servants to murder him after the Syrians were gone.

Joash was succeeded by his son Amaziah, who, on the whole, was a just king. He punished the men who had murdered his father, but spared their families. This was a very unusual act of mercy at that time; for generally when a man did wrong his family suffered too.

When about to make war against the Edomites, Amaziah hired some Israelite soldiers, so as to make his army larger. But a prophet warned him not to keep them; so he sent these men away, and, with only his own troops, defeated the enemy and took their capital.

But although Amaziah had obeyed the prophet once, he soon disobeyed him by offering up a sacrifice to the principal idol of the Edomites. Because he did this, he had much trouble, and finally fell into the hands of the King of Israel, who was named Joash, like Amaziah's father.

Joash of Israel not only took Amaziah prisoner, but marched into Jerusalem through a breach in the wall. Then, when he had taken all the treasures from the temple and palace, he allowed Amaziah to continue reigning, which he did for the next fifteen years. At the end of that time, his people had learned to hate him so greatly that they killed him after he had fled in terror from his capital.

Meanwhile, after the death of Jehu, the kingdom of Israel had been governed by Jehoahaz and the Joash who took Jerusalem, as we have just seen. Hearing that Elisha was very ill, this king once went to visit him. When he saw that the prophet was about to die, he began to weep bitterly; but Elisha paid no attention to his tears, and told him to take his bow and arrows.

Laying his dying hand upon Joash's hand, Elisha bade him shoot an arrow out of the window. Then, after the king had struck the ground three times with an arrow, the prophet told him that he would win as many victories over the Syrians. This prophecy came true, and it was only after he had won several cities that Joash died, and his son Jeroboam II. began to reign over the ten tribes.

This Jeroboam was the thirteenth king of Israel, and during his long reign of forty-one years, his people were very happy. He won for them all the land east of the Jordan which was in the hands of the Syrians, and even went to attack the great city Damascus.

I
T
was probably under the reign of Jeroboam II., one of the greatest kings of Israel, that the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the prophet, saying: "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me."

When Jonah heard these words, he was terrified; for Nineveh was not only the great city of Assyria, but one of the finest towns of the ancient world. It lay far to the northeast of Palestine, and was under the rule of a powerful and very despotic race of kings, who took pleasure in building some of the most remarkable edifices in the world.

Although more than twenty-five hundred years have passed since the kingdom of Assyria was destroyed, explorers have lately found the ruins of this great city. After digging in huge mounds of rubbish, they found ruined palaces, adorned with wonderful paintings and sculptures, many of which have been carried to the European museums.

At the time when the voice of the Lord came to Jonah, Nineveh had reached the highest point of its glory and prosperity. The prophet knew the pride of the people, and the power of the king; and it is no wonder that he did not care to go there to deliver so disagreeable a message.

In his terror, Jonah fled to the seaport of Joppa, where he went on board a ship bound for Tarshish. His object was to get as far away from Nineveh as possible, so that he would not need to do as the Lord had bidden him. But no sooner were they far out at sea than a terrible storm arose, endangering the vessel and the lives of all on board.

JONAH

The sailors, according to the custom of the time, declared that there must be some guilty person on the ship, whose presence brought this peril upon them all. To discover the culprit, they drew lots, and when Jonah was thus found to be the sinner, they cast him overboard, "and the sea ceased from her raging. . . . Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights."

We are further told that Jonah, who was still alive, "prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly," and that God had pity upon him and bade the fish vomit Jonah out upon dry land.

The prophet had been saved from great peril by a miracle, and when the Lord again bade him go to Nineveh, he no longer dared disobey. He finally reached the city, which was so large that it took several days to walk around it. Jonah viewed its magnificent buildings and beautiful sculptures, and, standing perhaps near one of the colossal statues which have been found in the ruins, he preached repentance to the people, threatening them with the overthrow of their great city within forty days, if they refused to listen to his words.

It seems that the people of Nineveh believed God's words and led better lives. And, because they "turned from their evil way, . . . God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not."

Of course the men of Nineveh were overjoyed to escape the threatened punishment, but Jonah, the prophet, was disappointed because the judgment of God was staid. He went outside the city, and sat there in sulky silence, under a little booth over which the Lord caused a gourd vine to grow in the course of a single night.

The cool shade of the spreading vine was very grateful to the angry prophet, during the sunny hours of an eastern day. But the next night a worm came and gnawed the roots, so that the vine died. Jonah, deprived of its shelter, now complained aloud.

In answer to his murmurs, God said: "Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night. And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left?"