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away; but he took with him many
beautiful things which Solomon had
put in the temple of the Lord.

Was Rehoboam good now? ‘Did
he try to serve the Lord? No, Re-
hoboam’s goodness quickly passed
away. He was humble and sorry
for a little time; but soon he forgot
God again, and thought only about
nis sins and his pleasures. His
heart was not new; he did not
truly wish to serve God. This was
displeasing to God. He does not
like us partly to love Him, and
partly to love the world. He does
not want us sometimes to serve
Him, and sometimes to serve Satan.
God wishes all our hearts to be
given to Him every day we live.

Jeroboam was very wicked too.
He taught the people to worship
images, golden calves, which he put
in Bethel and Dan. He would not
let his people go to Jerusalem, to
worship God in the right way there;
but he chose to worship in his own
way, and to make priests of the peo-
ple who were not Levites. This
was disobedience to the command of
God ; for he had said that the Levites
should be priests, and they alone.

One day, Jeroboam was standing
by his altar at Bethel, burning in-
cense. <A prophet of God came
from Judah to Bethel, and went to

REHOBOAM AND JEROBOAM.

the altar, and cried, “ O altar, altar,
thus saith the Lord: there shall be
born a king in Judah, named Jo-
siah, and upon thee shall he offer
the priests that burn incense upon
thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt
upon thee.” Then the altar was
rent, and the ashes poured out, as a
sign to show Jeroboam that the
prophecy came from God. Jero-
boam was angry with the prophet,
for he did not like to hear that his
altar should be destroyed; and he
put out his hand, to lay hold of the
man of God. But the wicked king
had no power to hurt God’s prophet.
The hand of Jeroboam dried up
directly, so that he had no strength
to move it. God smote Jeroboam,
to punish him for his wickedness
in trying to hurt His servant.

The king was frightened when
he looked at his withered hand, and
found he had no power to use it.
He said humbly to the prophet,
“Ask God to forgive me, and to
make my hand well again.” Was
the prophet willing to be kind to
his enemy? Yes, he did not wish
to be revengeful; he knew he ought
to love and pray for his enemies.
So the prophet prayed, and God
mercifully heard his prayer, and
made Jeroboam’s hand strong and
well again.