house; for there he offered burnt-offerings, for the brazen altar was too small for the number of the offerings."

On this joyful occasion, Solomon, and all the congregation, from the entering of Hamath unto the river of Egypt, held a feast of fourteen days: seven for the feast of tabernacles, and seven for the dedication. "On the eighth day, or the day after the feast, he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart, for all the goodness that the Lord had done for David his servant, and Israel his people."* Thus happily was this great work accomplished. God had visibly, by the fire from heaven, accepted the offering of his people. The ark of the covenant, with the glorious Shechinah, found its last resting-place. Jerusalem was the place where God was known; and where, alone, he could safely be worshipped by sacrifices and offerings. From henceforth, the high-places were sinful and idolatrous.

After this the Lord appeared to Solomon, and 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 for ever; and mine eyes and mine 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 will keep my statutes and judgments: then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom for ever, 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 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: and at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished and hiss; and shall say, Why hath the Lord done this unto this land, and to this house? And they shall answer, Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought forth their fathers out of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them; therefore hath the Lord brought upon them all this evil." A threatening which was soon fulfilled. Here, as always, we find the promises of God conditional-they are given only upon a covenant; and in the history we shall find that as the condi

* In Chronicles, it is said that the king dismissed the people on the twenty-third day of the month-which would be the ninth day, or the second after the feast. Some suppose, that a part of the people remained over till the ninth day, and were re-dismissed by the king.

tions on the part of the people were not fulfilled, so they failed to receive the promise. The people whom we now behold so joyful and prosperous in their service of Jehovah, we shall soon see (what the prophetic prayer of Solomon seemed to anticipate) bowing down to idols, and the wretched captives of their foes. This holy temple, now standing unrivalled in its beauty and richness, was soon plundered of its wealth, desecrated by the worship of false gods, a hissing and astonishment among the nations. So true is it that all prosperity, outward as well as inward, depends upon a close adherence to the worship and service of God.

SECTION XII.

SOLOMON'S OTHER BUILDINGS THE SOURCE OF HIS WEALTH-SOLOMON'S OFFENCE, THE TROUBLES OF HIS LATTER DAYS-HIS DEATH.

SOLOMON'S Wealth was mostly expended in building. Besides the temple, he built a palace for himself, which occupied thirteen years in its erection. "He built also the house of the forest of Lebanon," which was more extensive than the temple, though far less splendid. "Around both these palaces there were large porches," or colonnades. A peculiarly splendid abode was erected for the queen, the daughter of Pharaoh. All these buildings were of costly stones, of immense size, and covered with cedar. "In the porch of judgment, at the royal palace, was the great throne of ivory, overlaid with pure gold. The ascent to the throne was by six steps, and on each side were stays, and two lions stood beside the stays; and upon the six steps were twelve lions." In the palace at Lebanon "were two hundred targets of beaten gold, of six hundred shekels each; and three hundred golden shields, of three pounds to each shield. All the vessels of this house, and all Solomon's vessels, were of pure gold, none were of silver, it was nothing thought of in the days of this king."

Besides these private palaces, Solomon built and fortified the cities of Gezer, which he had received as a dowry with the queen, Pharaoh's daughter; Hamath, which he captured; Tadmor in the wilderness; the cities which had been given to Hiram, and by treaty receded to Israel; "and all the cities of store, and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen, and all that which Solomon desired to build in the land of his dominion."

When Hiram came to see the cities which Solomon had given him in the land of Galilee, he was dissatisfied. And as these princes remained on friendly terms, and soon after we find Solomon fortifying these very cities, we must suppose that some other reward had been given to the king of Tyre for his generous assistance, and that the cities of Galilee returned to their former king.

The men who were employed in "these works were the remnant of the Canaanites, whom the children of Israel were unable to destroy. Solomon used these as bondmen in the more laborious and menial parts of his service; while the native Israelites filled the stations of trust and honour. "They were his officers, his men of war, the rulers of his chariots and horsemen, and rulers over those that wrought in the work."

To carry forward and complete these vast designs, and to maintain the kingdom in all the luxury and splendour in which it was now existing, required a constant influx of wealth. The drain upon the royal treasury must have been immense. No resources within the kingdom itself could have furnished anything like an adequate supply. Accordingly, we find the people of Israel, and the king himself, now, for the first time, engaged in foreign commerce. Here again Solomon had recourse to his friend and ally the king of Tyre. As his own subjects were almost entirely an agricultural people, they were unfitted to build or man the ships necessary for this traffic. But by the aid of Hiram the plan was executed. "Solomon fitted out a fleet in Ezion-geber, beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom." The fleet was manned with a mixed crew of Hebrews and Tyrians. It sailed to Ophir, and brought thence in gold four hundred and twenty talents to the king. Besides the direct return, in the precious metals, these ships were no doubt laden with the merchandize of the east, which were disposed of all along the shores of the Mediterranean; and thus Palestine became the centre, for a time, of that lucrative trade.*

The king was at the same time engaged in another tradefrom Egypt, through his dominions across the Syrian desert, and so on eastward. What were the avails of this trade we are not informed, but it was probably large; as we know from more recent history, that this commerce has always conferred great wealth upon those who were engaged in it. "Linen yarn, horses and chariots, were brought from Egypt, and sold to the Syrians; and Solomon's servants had a complete monopoly of the whole trade."

In the course of this traffic, Solomon's wealth and wisdom became widely known. The splendour of his court attracted the admiration of other monarchs. "And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his heart. And they brought every man his present; vessels of gold, and vessels of silver, and garments, and armour, and spices, and harness, and mules, a rate year by year." Among

It seems probable (though it is not certain from the narrative) that Solomon and Hiram had another fleet trading along the coasts of the Mediterranean as far as Tarshish.

others who were thus drawn to the king, was the queen of Sheba. Her territories lay in the southern part of Arabia. When the report of Solomon's wisdom reached her, she came, with a large retinue, and a present of gold and spices, and precious stones, to prove Solomon with hard questions. Solomon answered all her questions. The impression made upon the queen, by the wisdom of Solomon, and the splendour of his court, and the temple service, was almost overwhelming. "There was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land, of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit, I believed not their words. until I came, and mine eyes had seen it; and behold the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king to do judgment and justice."

The whole revenue of the king, from all these sources, was six hundred threescore and six talents* of gold a year, besides that which came from the merchantmen, from the kings of Arabia, and from the governors of the country. Silver was in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as the sycamore trees for abundance.

This unexampled tide of prosperity began to have its influence. There are few, perhaps, who could have lived in the midst of such luxury, and wealth, and power, without being corrupted by them. Solomon, at least, with all his wisdom, fell, and fell most lamentably. He has given us his own experience, filled with solemn warnings, in the book of Ecclesiastes. He drank the cup of earthly joys, and left upon record for us the satisfaction which they gave, in that short sentence, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. "But Solomon loved many strange women, beside the daughter of Pharaoh"-women of the surrounding nations, with whom God had expressly forbidden all intermarriage. Solomon clave unto these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. These guilty alliances were not long in producing their result. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians; and after

The difficulty in regard to the weight of the talent may be removed, by supposing that in the time of Solomon it had no definite weight, but signified a flat piece of metal, which might be larger or smaller, as we use the word ingot. For if we take for a talent the weight assigned to it in the tables, as Prideaux says, the whole house might have been built of solid gold.

Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which sacrificed unto their gods. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and commanded him concerning this thing that he should not go after other gods. 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 commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and give it unto 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. 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."

We are not informed in the history, what effect this warning had upon the guilty and besotted king. We may gather, however, from the tone of his later writings, that he was brought to true repentance and a happy reformation. It was too late now. to avert the calamity which was threatened. The clouds were rapidly gathering around this once happy empire. The scene of peace and prosperity was suddenly overcast. The low mutterings of discontent might be heard. It was beginning to be felt that pomp and outward show did not constitute real happiness. A heavily taxed people were growing restless under their burdens. In these conditions it only needed the sin of Solomon to bring about rebellion and civil war. Nor was this all. Foreign and subject nations were beginning to rouse themselves to resistance. On the south-east, Hadad, of the royal blood of Edom, was troubling the Israelitish king. In the slaughter of the Edomites, by Joab, Hadad, then an infant, had escaped, and flying from one place to another had at last reached Egypt. He grew in favour with the Egyptian king, and eventually married into the royal family. On learning the death of David, he had returned to his own country, and began "a petty warfare which Solomon did not repress.'

On the north, another adversary appeared, in the king of Damascus. Rezon had revolted from Hadadezer king of Zobah, and with a band of followers had made himself master of Damascus, and now reigned there. In the later years of Solomon's reign, his power began to be formidable. Both these enemies, as we are told, were permitted thus to annoy the king of Israel, as a punishment of his sin.

A more serious enemy, however, arose in the midst of his own kingdom. "Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite, had distinguished himself as a man of valour." Solomon, seeing his worth, had exalted "him to be a ruler over the house of Joseph.'