The works of the Rev. William Thom, late minister ... - waughfamily.ca

*J2SERMONS.hoboam thought this a fufficient army ; for he didnot, as was often the cuftom, hire the Sj.iaans, or o-ther foreign troops, to crufh the fpirit orthe revoltedprovinces. But when this army of a hundred andeighty thoufand are muflercd^ and upon their march,their march is countermanded by an authority infinitelyfupcrior to that of Rehoboam ; for " the wordof God came unto Shemaiah, the man of God, faying.Speak unto Rehoboam, the fon of Solomon, kingof Judah, and unto all the houfe of Juclah and Benjamin,and to the remnant of the people. Thus faiththe Lord, Ye fliall not go up, nor fight againfl yourbrethren the children of Ifrael : return every man toIiis houfe." It is faid in fcripture, that fometimesGod makes the judges or leaders of a nation fools ;but when the leaders of a nation have gone into foolilhor ruinous meafures, it feldom happens that theinfatuation is univerfal. There may be ftill a fewim corrupted perfons v/ho have love to their coimtry,to its laws, its liberty, and its peace ; who have fenicto fee the unrighteous and deflr»(Slive fchemes that aregoing to be purfued, and who have alfo fpirit and refolutionto cry out againft them *, though,alas ! whenfolly, corruption, and venality, have becom.e general,thefe friends of wifdom, and juftice, and peace, oftentimescry in vain : But when a Shemaiah, the man:of God, known to be a prophet, when he raifes hlFvoice, when he fpeziks in the name of God, it is certainlybecoming, that an immediate ftopbe put tounjufb and pernicious meafures, however keenly thefewere purfued before. It appears, however, that itwas not Rehoboam^ and ftili lefs can we imagine thatit was the young men, grown up with him, who liftenedto Shemaiah, faying, " Thus faitli the Lord,Thou flialt not go up to fight againfl thy brethrenthe children of Ifrael : return every man to his houfe."It was the houfe of Judah and Benjamin, and theremnant of the people, that is, fom.e few of the ten