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seized upor. Damascus, and made himself king of that country. These two formed an alliance against Solomon, and greatly harassed his dominions. Nathan the prophet was commissioned to reprove him for his odious apostacy, and to denounce this heavy judgment upon him, that his kingdom should be divided into two parts, the greatest portion of which should be given to his servant. This message is supposed to have convinced Solomon of his sin, and to have wrought in him a thorough repentance. It is certain that he became a sincere penitent at last; for the book of Ecclesiastes, in which he so pathetically describes the vanity and vexation of all worldly pursuits, was evidently written at the close of his life. The end of this book sufficiently proves that Solomon had regained his religious principles, and was thoroughly humbled under the hand of Gon "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, says he, "Fear GoD, and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For GoD shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."

Let the fall of Solomon humble us in the estimation which we form of ourselves. The most brilliant talents may be prostituted to the vilest of purposes; and they who possess them have great need of watchfulness, lest they fall into divers temptations. But in his recovery we have cause to admire the exceeding goodness of GOD, not in restoring Solomon to his favour by a constraining power upon his will, but by sending his minister to set before him the nature of his offence, and its dreadful consequences.

Happy was it for the fallen monarch that he listened to the voice of the prophet, and returned in penitence unto him whom he had so shamefully forsaken. His guilt was purged away, and he was again made the instrument of instructing the church of GOD. Solomon died after a long reign of forty years; and he was succeeded by his son Rehoboam,

from whom the ten tribes revolted, according to the word of the Lord.

There are three books in the sacred canon which are admitted to have been written by Solomon. The first is the book of Proverbs, the most admirable body of ethics in the world. The next is Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher, in which he records the sum of his observations on human life and its pursuits, in a strain of serious consideration and penitence. That which stands the last ought, perhaps, to have been the first in order. This is the book entitled "The Song of Songs," which the Chaldee paraphrast styles, "The Songs and Hymns which Solomon the prophet, the king of Israel, uttered in the spirit before the Lord." This was an epithalamium, composed on the celebration of the nuptials between Solomon and the daughter of Pharaoh. But though the song had reference to the circumstances of a real marriage, yet, as the best writers agree, it has a farther application, for there are illusions in it which could not belong to the nuptials of Solomon; it bears all the marks of mystical allegory, an therefore it has in all ages been considered as a figu. rative representation of the union between the MesIsiah and his church.

As Solomon had, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, such clear views of the Redeemer; so he was, in many particulars, an illustrious type of him.

He was the child of promise, and his name and qualifications were announced to his father by a messenger divinely-appointed. So was Christ the child of long and eager expectation to holy men of old; the ancient church looked for him from "the mountain of myrrh, and from the hill of frankincense," or from the mystical heights and institutions of the law, with the impatience of those who watch "for the morning light." Canticles iv. 6. The name and glorious works of the Redeemer were revealed by a heavenly messenger unto his virgin mother; and when he entered the world, a choir of angels pro

claimed the "Prince of Peace." Solomon gave rest to his people; and our Emanuel has not only reconciled "all things that are in heaven and earth," but he has purchased for all his faithful subjects an immortal rest in the kingdom of God.

The king of Israel was distinguished for his wisdom; and to him came persons of the greatest rank, to profit by his instruction. Here also we are reminded of him "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians ii. 3.

Solomon immortalized his name by building the most magnificent edifice that was ever constructed for the worship of GOD. But the son of GOD is engaged in a far greater undertaking than this; for out of the ruins of the fall he is rearing a glorious building, which shall stand for ever. He is gathering a church out of all lands, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail. Though it may now be poor and despised, and persecuted, yet in the fulness of time the wise master-builder, who was smitten for our transgressions, and rose again for our justification, "shall bring forth the head stone thereof with the shoutings of angels, crying, Grace, grace unto it!'' Zechariah iv. 7.

Solomon was numbered with his fathers in the city of David; but our Redeemer is exalted at the right hand of the throne of GOD, and abideth continually. Solomon's cunning artists and numerous workmen have long since been forgotten; but the faithful servants of Christ shall be had in everlasting remembrance, and shine as the stars for ever and

ever.

The extensive buildings of the king of Israel have ages since mouldered into decay, and not a trace of them remains ;-but the church of GOD still endures amidst all the vicissitudes of time, and shall outlive the wreck of the universe. They who are built upon this foundation shall not be moved, because they are established upon the rock of ages, who is the Lord of life and of glory. "Blessed then are they who do his commandments, that they

may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Revelation.

xxii. 14.

ELIJAH.

Translated to Heaven about the Year of the World, 3108.

THE situations filled by some of the most illustrious characters recorded in Scripture were so peculiar, and the commissions with which they were intrusted so extraordinary, that they cannot wholly be proposed for our imitation as examples, though our faith and constancy must be strengthened by a proper consideration of their actions. As we are not called upon, like them, to stand forth in the presence of kings, or to execute the judgments of the Lord upon an apostate nation, we can only admire their zeal, and that Divine power which operated in them to the reformation of public abuses.

It would be the most arrogant and impious presumption in any man to set himself up after the manner of those worthies, as the minister of Divine justice, without having as plain a commission as they possessed, and that commission confirmed by the power of working miracles. Yet, in an inferior degree, we may fitly take them for an example, as far as relates to a strict obedience of the Divine commands, a generous denunciation of worldly advantages, and a steady opposition to the corrupt principles and maxims of an evil generation.

The character of Elijah presents us a noble picture of disinterested zeal and fervent piety. He was raised up by the Almighty in a time of almost universal apostacy, when, from the king on the throne to the meanest peasant, there was a general departure from the truth.

He was a native of Tisbeh, a city of Gilead, and he began to prophesy when Ahab, the most wicked of the kings of Israel, reigned in Samaria. This monarch appears to have been perverted to idolatry by his marriage with Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians; and this furnishes another instance of the danger that results from imprudent connexions. It is said, "there was none that did work wickedness in the sight of the Lord like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up." 1 Kings xxi. 25. The influence which she had over him, led him to commit the most atrocious offences, contrary to his natural temper; and by her means Ahab was not only prevailed with to tolerate idolatry, and to countenance it by his presence, but to make it the national religion, substituting the worship of Baal in his dominions for that of Jehovah.

Thus did the counsels of an abandoned woman, and the criminal indulgence of a simple monarch, reduce the church of God to ruin, and cover the land with the most abominable profanations. Such was the deplorable state of this highly-favoured nation, when Elijah received the Divine command to denounce the judgments of the Lord to Ahab. The Almighty is gracious even in the midst of provocation; he forbears long with the crying sins of a people, and when his justice can no longer withhold punishment, it shall not be inflicted till a previous warning is given, that by a timely repentance the stroke may be averted. All remonstrances, however, were in vain ; and the man of God at last declared to the apostate king, "that there should be neither dew nor rain on the land for three successive years."

This denunciation, though pronounced in the name of the Lord, failed in producing any salutary effect upon the insensible heart of Ahab; in consequence of which the word of the prophet was fulfilled, and the land was "parched up on account of the wickedness of them that dwelt therein." But, in the midst of the general calamity, the Almighty provided for

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