THE K I N G ' S BUS I NE S S but there is a penalty that must be paid and this out-weighs the seeming profit many times. Ahaz delivered him self into the hands of the king of As syria by seeking and accepting his aid in time of need. Had he trusted in God alone he would have been impreg nable. History is one long record of the failure of those who trusted in an arm of flesh and the triumph of those who trusted in God alone. It may seem easier to trust in the visible and near than the invisible and apparently remote, but experience and example should rectify our erring judgment and fortify our failing faith. “ Our fathers trusted in Thee; they trusted and were not confounded.” Psalm 22:4-5. Saturday, March 18. 2 Kings 16:10-18. Corrupting Worship The desire to be like the heathen is the beginning of apostasy. God has a right to say how He shall be ap proached. No greater insult can be paid Him than to approach Him in any other way than the one which He has prescribed. It is the exaltation of the individual judgment above Divine wis dom. The book of Leviticus is a man ual of worship. There is no book in the Scriptures in which there are so many of the words of God and so few of the words of men. It seems as if the entire book might be placed in quotation marks. Nothing is left to human preference or choice. The way to God for sinners is here seen to be by means of a high priest and sacri ficial blood. This is God’s provision for man’s need. He must be wor shipped in spirit and in truth. Sunday, March 19. 2 Kings 17:31-41. The Lost Ten Tribes The Assyrians took Israël into cap tivity 721 B.. C., one hundred and thirty- five years before the captivity of Judah. Assyrian monuments say that 27,290 men were taken away. Some from all. the ten tribes had removed to Judah as the Levites did after Jeroboam had introduced calf-worship, and these went away later into the Babylonian captiv ity. The leading citizens of those living in Israel were carried into Assyria and others were left in the land. The de scendants of these latter, by intermar riage with foreigners who re-peopled the land, came to be called the Samari tans from the name of their chief city, and so the northern kingdom became the lost ten tribes. God knows where to find them and in His own time and
294 arated them from their holy temple and all the sacred associations dear to the people of God, and buried them out of sight among the nations. God is merciful but sin cannot go unpun ished. Wednesday, March 15. Hosea 7:1-10. The Deceitfulness of Sin The true nature of sin is not seen in the hour of temptation. The forbid den fruit looked fair enough to the eye, Gen. 3:6, and Satan held out the dazzling prospect of Divine equality, but alas, for our first parents', they didn’t know the deceitfulness of sin. Heb. 3:13. At last it biteth like a ser pent and stingeth • like an adder. The way of death and the way of life lie within the reach of every man and of every nation. Israel began with neg lecting God and ended with the fright ful sacrifice of Moloch. The refusal to glorify God is the sure harbinger of disaster. God had chosen them to be His peculiar people but they chose to be like the nations from whom God had separated them. Their ultimate dismissal into oblivion may be traced back to the time when the altars of Jehovah were broken down. Thursday, March 16. Isaiah 8:5-10. The Downfall Foretold God sent repeated messages to both Israël and Judah to induce them to turn from their evil ways. They had the law and therefore were not in utter darkness. They had many prophets besides. Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Hosea and Isaiah were among those who had warned them faithfully. They were bent on following their evil course and refused to give heed to the words of entreaty and warning. Responsibility is proportionate to knowledge. .They would not believe God’s prophets but hearkened to deceivers. They hard ened their necks. The figure is that of oxen who insist on going in another direction in spite of the driver’s efforts. Israel is referred to in the Bible as a stiff-necked people. Ex. 32:9. Deut. 10:16. There can be but one outcome of such a course. Insight predicts it. Foresight declares. it. Disobedience brings destruction. The wages of sin is death. Friday, March 17. 2 Kings 16:1-9. A Dangerous Alliance Time shows that the right is the only true expediency. It may appear for the time being that a policy of com promise has the greater advantage,
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