CHAPTER VII.

WARS AND DECLENSIONS.

THE Philistines occupied a narrow strip of land along the coast of the Mediterranean south-west of Judah, and within the territory originally allotted to that tribe. As already stated, they had taken advantage of the weak reign of Ahaz to make inroads on his kingdom. They still kept possession of several cities and villages in the western and south-western parts of Judah, some of which were only a few miles from Jerusalem. It was no mean proof of the zeal of Hezekiah, that a prince of his spirit and vigor should suffer these hereditary enemies to occupy positions so near the heart of his kingdom, while he devoted his thoughts and resources to the restoration of its religious institutions. With less faith and sincerity, he might have made this state of the country an excuse for delaying such a work. Some might even think his conduct in this matter showed a want of patriotism. But Hezekiah felt that success as well as duty demanded of him first of all to seek the divine favor. Jehovah was not only the God of Israel but their King, in a sense in which he was King of no other nation. Hezekiah believed that if the people were obedient, they might rely on the aid of heaven, as

in ancient times. The entire history of the nation proved that they were invincible when they cleaved to the God of their fathers, and powerless when they foolishly revolted to the service of idols. His whole hope, therefore, was in the Lord for deliverance from his enemies. He was firmly persuaded that the Lord would send him "help from the sanctuary, and strengthen" him "out of Zion." In the true spirit of the dispensation under which he lived, he could say, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God." In that name, therefore, he resolved now to set up his banners, and free his kingdom from foreign aggression.

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If done only from policy, Hezekiah was wise in deferring war until he had prepared his subjects to engage in it with the expectation of victory. In the reign of Ahaz, their spirit seems to have been broken by successive defeats. Casting off allegiance to Jehovah, they lost confidence in themselves, and became an easy prey to any invader. How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?" But Hezekiah had inspired them with his own faith and hope in the God of Israel; and again they were ready to rush into battle with the exulting shout, "The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge."

The first warlike enterprise of. Hezekiah. was

against the Philistines. He was probably encouraged to undertake their expulsion from his borders by a prediction of Isaiah, "in the year that king Ahaz died:" "Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod that smote thee is broken; for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent." Isa. 14:29. Most commentators think that the allusion in this passage is to Hezekiah, and Uzziah his great-grandfather. The latter had invaded the country of the Philistines, and taken their principal cities. During the reign of Ahaz they recovered from their depression, and perhaps were meditating a fresh inroad upon Judah. They may have anticipated a weak, or at least unwarlike prince in Hezekiah, as the meekness and peaceableness of good men are often mistaken for want of spirit. But the prophet warns them not to rejoice, for a more terrible enemy was about to arise than any they had yet encountered. Whether this prediction relates specially to Hezekiah or is more general in its meaning, he not only drove the Philistines out of Judah, but pursued them into their own country, and "smote them even unto Gaza and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city." Gaza was in the south-western extremity of their land; so that throughout nearly its whole extent, not merely the fortified towns, but the most insignificant habitations-even the watch-towers in the lonely vine5

Hezekiah.

yards and sheep-cotes-fell into his hands. The confidence of Hezekiah in God was not disappointed; "the Lord was with him, and he prospered whithersoever he went forth."

We cannot suppose that Hezekiah was prompted by the love of glory or by a desire of conquest to exchange the calm scenes of devotion and religious observances in which he had been thus far so happily engaged, for the confusion and dangers of a camp. It was to him, probably, a sacrifice of personal feelings which he was constrained to make, no less for the honor of Jehovah than for the independence of his kingdom. God had set apart the Israelites for his peculiar people, and commanded them not to suffer an idolater to dwell within their borders. Allegiance to their divine Head, therefore, demanded that they should expel the heathen by force from this sacred heritage.

Whatever construction may be given to the precepts of the gospel on the subject of peace, none can doubt that the Ruler of the world has a right to dispose of the lives of men as seemeth him good. He may commission the lightning, the earthquake, the pestilence, to execute sentence of deserved death on the guilty, or he may use voluntary instrumentality to accomplish the same purpose. In the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness," the terrific agents by which God now chastises nations for their sins, and works changes required for the

progress of the kingdom of Christ, will not be needed, and no place for them will be found. Already the signs of the times point to such a consummation. The prevalence of Christianity has stripped war of many of its horrors; and even in its modified form, Christian nations are growing reluctant to employ it for terminating their disputes with each other. The years are manifestly drawing nigh, whose light burst on prophetic vision in the days of Hezekiah, when "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

The Hebrews were selected to preserve on the earth the knowledge of the one living and true God until the way was prepared for the manifestation of his Son in the flesh, and for a new dispensation which should embrace both Jews and Gentiles. Their territory, as originally described, was admirably fitted by its local position to separate them from the rest of the world. On the north were the lofty mountains of Lebanon, which, with their branches, served both to defend and seclude the Israelites from others. On the east, were the whole length of the Jordan and the Dead sea. On the south, was a waste and tedious desert, terminating in hills on the borders of the Holy Land, from which the Israelites, when they came out of Egypt, were driven back by their enemies. On the west, was

the Great or Mediterranean sea.

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