And they of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley: and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.

And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Beth-shemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the kine a burnt offering to the Lord.

And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.

THE ARK COMES TO KIRIATH-JEARIM

And he smote of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord.

And the men of Beth-shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? and to whom shall he go up from us?"

And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriathjearim, saying, "The Philistines have brought again the ark of the Lord; come ye down, and fetch it up to you."

And the men of Kiriath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill, and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord.

And it came to pass, while the ark abode in Kiriath-jearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.

In the account of Saul's campaign against the Philistines, when Jonathan put them to flight, we learn that he had the Ark at his headquarters at Gibeah, a few miles east of Kiriath-jearim.

The story of how David brought up the Ark from the house of Abinadab and set it in its tabernacle in his new citadel at Jerusalem is given in Volume Two.

The last recorded adventure of the Ark was when, in David's flight from Absalom, it was carried by Zadok the priest over the Brook Kidron to insure the king's safe escape from Jerusalem. By his order it did not follow him, but was returned to its tabernacle.

When Solomon had finished building his temple, the Ark was solemnly brought up from "the city of David” and placed in "the most holy place," there to be seen only by the high priest once a year. What became of it after that we do not know. It is not mentioned as part of the furniture of Zerubbabel's temple or of that built by Herod in Jesus' day. But the memory of its ancient glory and of what it meant to Israel grew in the hearts of the faithful from age to age.

THE LORD'S PRIDE IN HIS HOLY PLACE

FOR THE ARK IN THE TIME OF DAVID

Lord, remember David and all his afflictions:

How he swore unto the Lord,

And vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob:

"Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, Nor go up into my bed;

I will not give sleep to mine eyes,

Or slumber to mine eyelids;

Until I find out a place for the Lord,

A habitation for the mighty God of Jacob."

Lo, we heard of it in Ephrathah:

We found it in the fields of the wood:

We will go into his tabernacles:

We will worship at his footstool.

"Arise, O Lord, into thy resting place;
Thou, and the ark of thy strength.

Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness;
And let thy saints shout for joy."

FOR THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON

For thy servant David's sake turn not away the face of

thine anointed.

The Lord hath sworn in truth unto David;

He will not turn from it:

"Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.

If thy children will keep my covenant

And my testimony that I shall teach them,

Their children also shall sit upon thy throne forever

more."

For the Lord hath chosen Zion;
He hath desired it for his habitation.
"This is my resting place forever:
Here will I dwell; for I have desired it.

"I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread.

I will also clothe her priests with salvation: And her saints shall shout aloud for joy.

"There will I make the horn of David to bud:
I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed.
His enemies will I clothe with shame:
But upon himself shall his crown flourish."

THE PROPHET AND THE LION

To the loyal followers of Jehovah in the kingdom of Judah, and to their successors in the days of exile, the rich and corrupt shrine at Bethel, established as a national sanctuary by the first Jeroboam, was an object of special abhorrence. In the strange story which follows, taken from the two Books of Kings, this feeling finds strong expression.

N

THE WORD AGAINST BETHEL

JEROBOAM SETS UP IDOLATRY AT BETHEL

WOW Jeroboam said in his heart: "If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then will the heart of this people turn again to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah."

Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even to Dan.

And he made houses of high places, and made priests from among the people, who were not of the sons of Levi. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he made. So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised in his own heart; and ordained a feast to the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.