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Israel. Before quitting this subject, these two remarks may be allowed, how
wonderfully, and we may add, unexpectedly, documents of secular history - apparently
accidentally discovered - confirm and illustrate the narratives of the Bible; and how
wise, politically and religiously, how suited to the national life, were the institutions of
the Old Testament, even when to our notions they seem most strange, as in the case of
Levitical cities throughout the land. For, these cities, besides serving other most
important purposes, formed also the strongest bond of political union, and at the same
time the most powerful means of preserving throughout the country the unity of the
faith in the unity of the central worship of Jehovah at Jerusalem. Thus national union
and religious purity were bound up together, and helped to preserve each other.
But to return. On the elevation of Jeroboam to the new throne of Israel, Rehoboam
made one more attempt to recover the lost parts of David's kingdom. He assembled an
army of 180,000 men^188 from Judah and Benjamin - the latter tribe having apparently
become almost unified with Judah since the establishment of the political and religious
capital in Jerusalem, through which ran the boundary-line between Judah and
Benjamin. But the expedition was at its outset arrested by Divine direction through the
prophet Shemaiah.^189
This abandonment of an expedition and dispersion of a host simply upon the word of a
prophet, are quite as remarkable as the courage of that prophet in facing an army in
such circumstances, and his boldness in so fully declaring as a message from Jehovah
what must have been a most unwelcome announcement alike to king and people. Both
these considerations are very important in forming an estimate, not only of the
religious and political state of the time, and their mutual inter-relations, but of the
character of, "Prophetism" in Israel. The expedition once abandoned was not again
renewed, although throughout the reign of Rehoboam there were constant incursions
and border-raids - probably chiefly of a predatory character - on the part of Judah and
of Israel (1 Kings 14:30). The remaining notices of Rehoboam's reign concern the
internal and external relations of Judah, as well as the sad religious change which
passed over the country after the first three years of his rule. They are recorded, either
solely or with much fuller details, in the Book of Chronicles (2 Chronicles 11:4 to
12:16). The first measure referred to is the building of fifteen fortresses, of which
thirteen were in the land of Judah - Hebron forming, as it were, the center of theme and
only two (Zorah and Aijalon) within the later possession of Benjamin.^190
They served as a continuous chain of forts south of Jerusalem, and to defend the
western approaches into the country. The northern boundary was left wholly
unprotected. From this it would appear that Rehoboam chiefly dreaded an incursion
from Egypt, though it does not by any means follow that these fortresses were only
built after the campaign of Shishak, which took place five years after the accession of
Solomon's son.
(^)