A Legacy to the Friends of Free Discussion

ery and murder, we must say, it was an unfortunate beginning of royal government. After the death of Solomon, his son, Rehoboam, began

ith his own particular party, returned the following answer:-"My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins: my father hath chastised you w

n. So it was then, with the Lord's people, as it has ever been in Christian countries where the aristocracy is every thing, and, the people are considered as nothing. According to Jewish history, Jehovah and the Kings of his own choosing quarrelled, and then the people had to suffer in consequence of disputes in which they had but little or no interest; and one of the strongest proofs that "the God of the Bible" i

destroyed every soul that drew breath. David followed the Lord with his whole heart; that is, he never entered into the temple of idols except to destroy them and their worshippers; but he was guilty of two crimes, for either of which, had he been any thing but a King, or Priest, he would have been, by the laws of his own country, put to death. Solomon's character

ure at times from the God of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob? Jeroboam being then, by Jehovah, made King, in preference to all others, and being raised in the family, of Rehoboam, Solomon's son, and only as a servant connected with the family, we cannot suspect that ever a new choice should have been made for th

, that the only way for him to secure his power was, never to depart at any time, or under any circumstances, from the worship of Jehovah. But, contrary to this, he commenced his reign by falling back into Egyptian idolatry. Under pretence of keeping his subjects faithful to his government, by not permitting them to go up to the Temple,

and that neither Jehovah, nor any other God, had a hand in the putting up or dethroning of Kings. This being admitted, we can see clearly through the whole matter. Jeroboam then would, from policy, set up a new religion, or revive an old one, so as to keep hi

is reign. As soon as Jeroboam came to the throne, he (contrary to the law of Moses) set up images, and made priests of the lower orders of the people, and began himself to worship in the character and office of a priest; for which, a prophet from Judah is sent (

The man of God besought the Lord, and a recovery took place. Here, then, was a miracle performed; and Jeroboam, being grateful, invited the prophet home to reward him by an entertainment of bread and water; but the man of God refused, by saying, that he was ordered by the Lord not to eat bread nor to drink water-in fact, to make no friendship whatever, but to return. Off, therefore, he went, after he had performed two miracles; one of which was

i., 20, 21, 22:-"And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back: And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and host not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, but e

ht; but, on meeting another prophet, he was told, in so many words, that things were changed, and that he might do now that which he was ordered not to do when he first set out. But the old prophet of Jeroboam, we are told, was a liar; and when they sat at me

he whole nation; but Jeroboam set up false gods, and the people followed his example, so that the worship of Jehovah, by the ten tribes, was entirely abandoned. Such blundering cannot be admitted, if the true and living God is to be considered as the projector. Besides

than that the Lord permitted such events to take place. In this sense, we may say that it was from the Lord that Andrew Jackson destroyed a great part of the English army; but no man is foolish enough to suppose that the Lord had directly any thing to do in the defence of New Orleans. Again, it is repeated in hundreds of places in the Bible, that the word of the Lord came to this or that person, saying. Now, apply this interpretation to "the word of the Lord came unto Moses," and all that can be made of it is, that Moses ascribed

the eve of battle, an inquiry was made of the Lord's prophets, as to what success they would have? Ahab, the King of Israel, called his prophets, four hundred in number, and, on being consulted as to the result of a battle, they one and all said, go fight, for the Lord will deliver your enemies into your hands. Jehoshaphat, being more cautious, said, is there not another prophet of whom we may inquire of the Lord? And the King of Israe

, and also, to fight for their employers. In this account, it is also recorded that the God of truth accepted of the services of a lying spiri

e gods. And yet it is recorded, that Jehovah chose Jeroboam to be king over Israel,-the very man who introduced the worship of idols, to the entire exclusion of the worship of the God of Abr

the most intolerant of any on earth. The Kings of Judah gave orders, in the name of the Lord, to destroy all the heathen, as the enemies of Jehovah. The prophets followed up the same practice; at the same time, the prophets of the heathen gods were less cruel, and, morally speaking, muc

ly to his pretended orders. He then foretold what the Lord intended should be done to certain kings and their families. Those kings, then, thus anointed by the authority of Elijah, received orders to destroy s

let loose; and the kings of each nation of the Jews, by the direction of these upstart prophets, showed no mercy to those of their brethren who had, by the fortune of war, fallen into their power. All this horrid state of things originated from Jeroboam being made king,

it because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?" The King of Israel then inquired what sort of a man it was who thus remonstrated with the messenger? And from the account given, he found it to be Elijah, the prophet of Judah; consequently a prophet of the Lord. Elijah was sitting on a hill, and the king sent a captain and fifty men to bring him before him; and this was the order:-"Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down. And Elijah answere

any punishment was to follow in sending for the prophet, ought not Ahaziah to have been the victim? This wanton shedding of blood, by the mere calling down from heaven judgments, by an old fellow wrapped up in a bear's-skin, and called a man of God, is too barefaced a lie for the present state of society. There is not one

of the god Baal-zebub, the then worship of the kingdom of Israel and Samaria, were put to death by the stratagem and order of Elijah; and after him, Elisha received an affront by being called "old bald head" and for this great offence, the Lord sent two she bears out of the woods

n to Elijah, who told Ahab, King of Israel, (1 Kings xvii., 1,) "As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my words"? This mir

ould be taken up; but Elisha stuck to him until up he went in a chariot of fire, with horses of the same; and Elisha saw it, and cried out, "My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof!" In going up, his mantle fell off, Elisha taking it, and with it, the prophetic spirit of his master. Elisha then followed on in the footsteps of his predecessor; and his first act was, to call on his God to des

and the lot fell on Jonah, who confessed himself to be the guilty person. He then told them to cast him into the sea, as the only way to save themselves and the ship. It is written what followed. Another blunder again in the choice of Jonah; and miracles must be performed to cause this run-away prophet to reach his destination. He then again made an attempt to preach repentance to the N

hey strayed from his commands, and in spite of his watchfulness, his chosen people would worship strange gods, for which offence they were punished. Heathen kings were stirred up against them, and their subjugation was the consequence. They then cried unto the Lord, and matters were made up for a while. The same scenes again took place, and punishments followed. From the beginning of the Jewish dispensation until

his one act of humanity, Saul and his family were rejected by Jahovah. David, his successor, obeyed the Lord in all things respecting religious worship; but he committed adultery and murder, thereby forfeiting his life by the law of Moses. But he was forgiven, and the child, the fruit of his adulterous intercourse, was, by the Lord

e command of Jehovah, who had raised him from a state of servitude to sit on a throne, savage and only at times departed from the Lord, but Jeroboam excluded every vestige of the worship of Jehovah from his kingdom. This, then, is a just statement of the conduct of those kings selected by the Lord of Hosts, as recorded in the Old Testament And c

e and all, intermixed with their complaints the prediction that the Lord had not entirely cast them off, but that the time would come when he would raise up unto them a prophet like unto Moses. Such predictions, often rep