The Three Kings\u20142Ki_3:4-16<\/p>\n
The Moabites, rendered tributary\u2014conquered by David, and remaining tributary to the kingdom of the ten tribes, took advantage of Ahab\u2019s troubles from the Syrians in the latter years of his reign, to assert their independence. This they did by withholding their customary annual tribute. The relation of this circumstance brings out the curious fact, that Mesha, king of Moab, was a sheep-master, and rendered unto the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with the wool. A strange proportion of rams; and it seems so unlikely that so large a number should be kept, that it has been supposed that wethers are intended. It claims notice, also, that the word translated \u201csheep-master,\u201d is in the original (noked) literally \u201ca marker;\u201d a name which came to denote a shepherd, because it was a pastoral duty to mark the sheep by some color, to distinguish them from others, and so to prevent the confusion that might arise from the accidental mingling of two flocks\u2014a circumstance particularly apt to occur in lands destitute of enclosures; and also, more particularly to distinguish the animals of better breed or quality from others. But we find, that the corresponding term denotes among the Arabs a species of sheep and goats, short-legged and deformed, but distinguished for the length of the wool; and it is also applied to the shepherd of a flock of sheep.<\/p>\n
This custom of calling a man from the species of animal in which his trade lies, or from the commodity in which he deals, is common in the Hebrew and other eastern languages. Nor is it unknown in our own common language; for, according to a writer of the present day, Note: Mr Henry Mayhew in London Labor and London Poor. this usage is common among our own street-folk, who call a man who deals in baked potatoes \u201ca baked \u2019tatur;\u201d one who sells pickled whelks, \u201ca pickled whelk;\u201d and so on. As a tribute is always of the best of the land, and as \u201cwith the wool\u201d is particularly mentioned, it is very probable that the sheep in question may have been of the very same breed with the Arabian, to which the same name is given\u2014distinguished for the quality of the wool. Some of our older versions render the designation by \u201crich in sheep,\u201d and \u201ca lord of sheep;\u201d and there can be no doubt of the attention the king of Moab paid to this branch of industry and source of wealth, from the form which the tribute took. It is only highly civilized countries, possessing such active commerce as enables them rapidly to turn their products into money, that could pay tribute other than in kind; and in ancient history instances of tributes being otherwise rendered than in the principal products of the tributary country are comparatively rare. The Hebrews themselves usually rendered their tributes in precious metal; and this argues the relative wealth of their country\u2014partly from the hoards of ancient kings, and partly from the facility they possessed of turning their produce into money in the Phoenician markets. But the Moabites, beyond almost any of the neighboring nations, were cut off from the ordinary lines of traffic, and could have but little occupation or commerce except in cattle, for the pasturage and nourishment of which their country was well adapted. Much curious information might easily be presented with respect to ancient and even modern tributes in cattle. But it suffices us to state that all our information is confirmatory of Pliny\u2019s statement that in ancient times the only tribute was from the pastures. A curious instance is that of the Cappadocians, of whom Strabo relates that they used to deliver as tribute to the Persians, every year, fifteen hundred horses, two thousand mules, and fifty myriads of sheep, or fifty thousand. The Moabite tribute seems very heavy, and doubtless it was so felt by them while it lasted; but in the same degree was it valuable to the crown of Israel; and the internal taxation, to which resort must have been made to make up for this lapse of external revenue, doubtless made the expedition eventually undertaken for the purpose of reducing the Moabites, highly popular in Israel. Yet this was not undertaken by Ahab; and his unwarlike son Ahaziah seems to have shrunk from the enterprise. It was left to his brother Jehoram, and it became one of the first objects of his reign. He easily prevailed upon Jehoshaphat of Judah to join him in the undertaking. His primary inducement seems to have been to assist in putting down a resistance to Jewish domination, which afforded an example dangerous to the dominion of Judah over the neighboring country of Edom. Indeed, although the viceroy of Edom was compelled to bring his forces into the field in aid of Judah against Moab, there is much reason to suspect that the Edomites were nearly ripe for revolt, and were watching the turn of events to declare their own independence, if not to make common cause with Moab. Indeed, it may be traced, we apprehend, in the narrative, that the king of Moab had expectations from them; and it is likely these expectations would not have been disappointed had any reverse attended the arms of the allies. The direct course into the land of Moab would have been to cross the Jordan somewhere above the estuary of the river; but instead of this, the Israelites marched down through Judah\u2019s territory, and, being joined by the forces of Jehoshaphat, proceeded round by the southern extremity of the Dead Sea, where, being joined by the auxiliaries of Edom, they entered Moab on the south. The course thus taken admits of various explanations. That the Syrians were posted in Gilead, where they still held the stronghold of Ramoth, may have rendered it unadvisable to assail Moab on the north; but we are ourselves more inclined to ascribe it to the necessity which the king of Judea felt, of holding the Edomites under close observation.<\/p>\n
By the time the allies entered the land of Moab, they were nearly consumed for lack of water; and in this emergency good Jehoshaphat inquired if there were any \u201cprophet of the Lord\u201d within reach. In his own country, and among his own people, the designation of \u201ca prophet\u201d would have sufficed; but mixed as he was with the Israelites, he felt the need of specifying that he desired the counsel of \u201ca prophet of the Lord.\u201d On hearing that Elisha had followed the camp, he readily recognized the name and claims of the inheritor of Elijah\u2019s mantle, although his prophetic career had but just commenced; and, at his suggestion, the three kings\u2014sent for him? No, went down to him. Not at all abashed by the presence of three crowned kings, the prophet, albeit a mild-mooded man, greeted Ahab\u2019s son with a rebuke as stern as Elijah himself could have administered. A soft answer turned away some of his wrath; and his heart softening towards Jehoshaphat, he consented to seek counsel of God. But Elisha, who always appears as more susceptible to external influences than his great master, needed first to calm down the perturbations of his spirit, to bring his soul into a fit frame for receiving the intimations he sought from Heaven, and to bear his spirit upon the wings of melodious sound into the harmonious company around that throne which no dissonance can approach. Nor was it for him alone. The kings, as they listened, could not but come also under this, the most spiritual of earthly influences, and be thereby prepared to receive in a right spirit the word they sought. As the minstrel with rapt ardor swept the strings, the divine influence came down upon the prophet\u2019s mind, and the last note had scarcely died away when he spoke. His words were strange\u2014\u201cMake this valley full of ditches.\u201d This was to receive the water, which, as he said, should, without sign of wind or rain, speedily fill the valley. Unlikely as the thing seemed, the kings recognized the power of the Lord by following the directions of his prophet; and presently thousands of men were at work scooping out wide and deep trenches in the valley\u2014trenches larger, it is probable, than their real need, though less capacious than their present thirst.<\/p>\n
Autor: JOHN KITTO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Three Kings\u20142Ki_3:4-16 The Moabites, rendered tributary\u2014conquered by David, and remaining tributary to the kingdom of the ten tribes, took advantage of Ahab\u2019s troubles from the Syrians in the latter years of his reign, to assert their independence. This they did by withholding their customary annual tribute. The relation of this circumstance brings out the … Continue reading ““383. THE THREE KINGS\u20142 KINGS 3:4-16””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16735\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}