Permission of George D. Sproul, who owns the copyright in the United States.

names mean respectively, ‘‘whom Jehovah assists’’ and “‘the strength of Jehovah.’’ After the death of his father, he finished the conquest of Edom by conquering Elath and restoring it to Judah; and this was the beginning of a long and in some respects remarkable reign, though with a sad ending, as we shall see.

The reign of Jeroboam II was the longest and outwardly the most prosperous of any of the kings of Israel; for he regained possession of the land in the north and east which had been lost, v. 25, and made the Syrians tributary, v. 28. During his long reign, Hosea and Amos were sent to Israel, reproving their idolatry, warning them of the folly of relying on foreign help, and foretelling their overthrow by Assyria, if they persisted in their sins. At the same time they did not cease to open the doors of God’s forgiveness and mercy, if Israel would repent. God could not forget the time when Israel was a child, and he loved him and brought him out of Egypt, Hosea 11:1. The memory of our early years, with their holy promise, is lovingly cherished by our Father.

33. “A Leper until the Day of His Death.”

2 Kings 15: 1-12. The reign of Azariah, or Uzziah, in Judah was very splendid. Fifty-two years of almost unbroken prosperity! The story is told in the glowing periods of 2 Chron. 26. Here, too, we learn that his sun suffered an eclipse because he persisted in the sacrilegious endeavor to combine the office of king and priest,—the exclusive prerogative of Messiah. See Zech. 6:13. As a leper he was excluded from all contact with his fellows, and dwelt in a separate house, while his Son Jotham acted as his viceroy.

For more than thirty years preceding its dissolution, the Northern Kingdom was terribly distracted. Anarchy, idolatry, high-handed crime, and immorality of a flagrant description swept like a hurricane over all classes. Rent by these evils, and with no strong men like Hezekiah and Isaiah then in Judah to place

their hands on the helm, the kingdom drifted to destruction. The sacred books give but brief and disjointed accounts of the last times of the kingdom of Israel, because God has no pleasure in the process of decay. He has no pleasure in the death of individuals or in the nation that dieth, but rather that ‘‘they should turn unto him and live.’’