whose altar and image had been set up in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, on the south of the Temple of the Lord; and "he sacrificed," says the sacred writer, "and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree." God was so displeased with Juda for these sins, that He humbled them before their brethren of Israel, who under Phacee, the son of Romelia, slew 120,000 men of the army of Juda in one day. Achaz fearing for his kingdom, sent messengers to Theglath Phul el Assur, saying: "I am thy servant and thy son; come and save me out of the hands of the kings of Syria and Israel." Isaias hereupon denounced in the strongest terms this alliance, and told both the king and people, that their own vices and sins were their only real enemies, and that the Assyrian empire was not their dependence, but merely the rod of the anger and the staff of the wrath of the God of Israel, whom they had provoked. "The Lord," said Isaias, "shall bring upon thee and upon thy people, and upon the house of thy father, days that have not come since the time of the separation of Ephraim from Juda, with the king of Assyria. The Lord shall shave with a razor, by the king of the Assyrians, the head, and the hairs of the feet, and the whole beard." "Be not afraid," said the prophet of Israel and Syria, "thus saith the Lord, 'Syria hath taken counsel against thee, and the son of Romelia. It shall not stand, this shall not be.'" And when Achaz refused either to listen or to ask a sign of God, Isaias uttered on this occasion his memorable prophecy of the coming of Messias.

ISAIAS DENOUNCES THE ASSYRIAN ALLIANCE. 399

ISAIAS PROPHESIES OF CHRIST.

Hear ye therefore, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also?

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. BEHOLD A VIRGIN SHALL CONCEIVE,

AND BEAR A SON, AND HIS NAME SHALL BE
CALLED EMMANUEL.

He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good.

During the whole of the reign of Achaz, Isaias continued to denounce the alliance with Assyria, as an act of apostasy from the God of Israel, who had delivered His people out of Egypt, and who was able to protect them by His own arm without the help of Assyria. But neither king nor people would listen, for God was angry with Juda and Jerusalem, and had commanded Isaias to go and say of this people :"Hearing hear and understand not, see the vision and know it not. Blind the heart of the people, make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I heal them."

Achaz therefore persevered in his offers to Theglath, who was glad of the opportunity of extending the Assyrian dominion westward, and for the moment Achaz was relieved by the Assyrian army coming to his help. His new ally, however, had no sooner conquered Israel and Syria, than he came and plundered Jerusalem without resistance, and Achaz was forced to buy him off, by giving him all the sacred vessels of the temple, and all the treasures of the king's house. After this, Achaz, in a fit of blind despair, shut up the house of the Lord, and began to sacrifice to all the gods of Syria and Damascus, thinking, as he said, to appease them; whereas, says the sacred

writer," they were his ruin." In this state of apostasy he died, and was succeeded by his son, Ezechias.

CHILDREN BURNT IN THE FIRE TO MOLOCH, IN THE REIGN OF ACHAZ.

§ 44. The reforms of the reign of Ezechias.

Ezechias was a very different man from his father. He was a personal friend of the prophet Isaias, and had seen from bitter experience, the truth of the prophet's warnings against the alliance with Assyria: and he firmly believed that the hope and strength of Juda was in the God of their fathers, who had delivered

REFORMS OF THE GOOD KING EZECHIAS.

401

them out of the hand of Pharao, and not in the Assyrian empire, which the prophet had taught him was a mere rod of the anger of their God for their sins. His first act, therefore, was to bring about a reform, and for this purpose he called the priests of Israel together, and said to them :

SPEECH OF EZECHIAS TO THE PRIESTS.

Hear me, ye Levites, and be sanctified, purify the house of the Lord the God of your fathers, and take away all filth out of the sanctuary.

Our fathers have sinned and done evil in the sight of the Lord God, forsaking him: they have turned away their faces from the tabernacle of the Lord, and turned their backs.

They have shut up the doors that were in the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense, nor offered holocausts in the sanctuary of the God of Israel.

Therefore the wrath of the Lord hath been stirred up against Juda and Jerusalem, and he

hath delivered them to trouble, and to destruction, and to be hissed at, as you see with your

eyes.

Behold, our fathers are fallen by the sword, our sons, and our daughters, and wives are led away captives for this wickedness.

Now therefore I have a mind that we make a covenant with the Lord the God of Israel, and he will turn away the wrath of his indignation from us.

My sons, be not negligent: The Lord hath chosen you to stand before Him, and to minister to Him, and to worship Him, and to burn incense to Him.

On this invitation of the king, the clergy of the temple began the work of purifying the altar and courts of the temple from the defilements of the reign of Achaz, and by the sixteenth day after they had begun, all was ready for the solemn sacrifice, which was offered in the presence of the king and all the people.

The king also took counsel with the princes and the assembly, to keep the pasch on the second month, for the preparations could not be completed for the first month; and as this pleased the people, they sent letters throughout Israel, inviting the people to come and join their brethren of Juda and Jerusalem.

LETTER OF EZECHIAS TO THE PRINCES OF ISRAEL.

Ye children of Israel, turn again to the Lord the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Israel and He will return to the remnant of

:

you that have escaped the hand of the king of the Assyrians.

Be not like your fathers, and brethren,

who departed from the Lord the God of their fathers, and He hath given them up to destruction, as you see.

Harden not your necks, as your fathers did: yield yourselves to the Lord, and come to His sanctuary, which He hath sanctified for ever serve the Lord the God of your fathers, and the wrath of His indignation shall be turned away from you.

For if you turn again to the Lord: your brethren and children shall find mercy before their masters, that have led them away captive, and they shall return into this land: for the Lord your God is merciful, and will not turn away His face from you, if you return to Him.

The posts went out speedily bearing_the_letter, but unbelief had made such progress in Israel, that the men of Ephraim and Manasses, as far as Zabulon, only laughed at them, and but a very few, and these chiefly from the tribe of Aser, came to the solemnity. In Juda, however, the feast was kept with the greatest joy, and Ezechias, says the sacred writer, sought the Lord with all his heart, and prospered in his work. He cast off his dependence upon the king of Assyria, and decided to throw himself upon the protection of the God of his fathers.

§ 45. The Attack of Assyria upon Jerusalem; its defence by the Lord God of Israel.

The king was confirmed in his pious determination by the judgment which fell at this time upon Israel, the neighbour kingdom. Ezechias saw in its captivity the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaias, and the power of Assyria to scourge those whom God delivered into their hands. In due time the resolution of Ezechias

was itself to be tried. Salman, the conqueror of Samaria, died, and his son Sennacherib came to the throne of Assyria. Sennacherib's mind was fully bent upon completing the conquests which his father had begun. In order, however, to subdue Egypt, the kingdom of Juda must first fall into his hands. Sennacherib