the Heliopolitan deity,were set up in the two extremities of the kingdom, and the temple wasput to sacrilegious usages. These sins were continued by hissuccessors, until in the reign of Asa, the third King of Judah, theimpure orgies of Ashtoreth were suppressed, for `having his heartperfect with Jehovah all his days' the king repaired Shishak's plunder--the first plunder of the temple, mark you--with `rich offerings of goldand of silver.' Asa made war against the Ethiopians, and on returningto Jerusalem the prophet Azariah, son of Oded, met him and exhorted himand his subjects to be strong heart in hand in seeking God. He gave anaffecting description of the former state of Israel: `For a long seasonIsrael hath been (or was) without the true God, and without a teaching'priest, and without law. [2 Chronicles, xv, 3.] His words roused thehearers to a new and more thorough reformation. The idols were removedfrom all the cities of Judah and Benjamin, and those which had been wonfrom Ephraim. The altar of burnt-offering, which had been polluted byJeroboam, was renewed, and in the third month of the fifteenth year(B.C. 940) Asa called a great convocation at Jerusalem. Jehoshaphatfollowed his father's piety, but the darkest night of Israel's spiritualdeclension came with the accession of Ahab, seventh King of Israel, andhusband of Jezebel. The service of Baal was established throughoutIsrael, a grove was made for the orgies of Ashtoreth, and by Jezebel'sorders the prophets of Jehovah were put to death, all except one hundredwho were hidden in a cave by Obadiah, the governor of Ahab's house."
"But was the temple already plundered?" asked Gwen, seated with her chinresting upon her hand, listening intently.
"We know that it was plundered seriously by Shishak, King of Egypt, whocarried off many of its greatest treasures, including the celebratedgolden shields of Solomon's house, which Rehoboam replaced by brass tokeep up the display," was the Professor's prompt reply. "Recentdiscoveries at Karnak tell the whole story of the conquest from theEgyptian point of view. The kingdom of Judah, it seems, became for along time tributary to Shishak, and upon the walls of the great templeat Karnak there are the sculptured representation of the siege and thehieroglyphics `Fuda Melchi'--meaning `The Kingdom of Judah.' That was,you will bear in mind, the first spoliation."
"Were there others?" asked Frank. "I mean others that are authenticatedby recent discoveries?"
"Yes, Jehoram reigned in Jerusalem from B.C. 895-892, and after hismarriage with Athaliah, daughter of Ahab, the temple was againdespoiled, and the daughters of Judah were once more prostituted to therites of Ashtoreth," replied Professor Griffin. "Joash, in B.C. 884,repaired the fabric of the temple by public subscription, for he was theinventor of the modern money-box--and there were enough funds left over,we are told, to purchase vessels for the sanctuary. [2 Kings, xii, 4-6;2 Chronicles, xxiv, 4-14.] This, however, did not last long, for in thereign of Amaziah, ninth King of Judah, Jehoash, King of Israel, defeatedhim in B.C. 826, took him prisoner and, entering Jerusalem again,reached the temple and conveyed all its treasures to Samaria.
"In the reigns of Jeroboam the Second, Shallam, Menaham and Pekehiah,other vessels and treasures were provided for the temple. Jonathanbuilt the high gate, but his successor, Ahaz, after plunging into allthe idolatries of the surrounding nations, making molten images for Baaland sacrificing his children to Moloch in the valley of Hinnom, foundhimself, according to our best chronologer, Ussher, involved in war. Hewas therefore compelled to apply for help to Tiglath-pileser, the`Tiger-Lord of Asshur,' King of Assyria, against Syria and Israel, anddeclaring himself his vassal, sent him all the treasures then left inthe temple. Ahaz, we learn from 2 Kings, xvi, 10-18, profaned thetemple by dismounting the brazen altar and replacing it by another.Likewise the `Great Sea of Solomon,' too large to be removed at previousdespoliations, was dismounted from its supporting oxen, and the laversfrom their bases, which were also sent to the King of Assyria, togetherwith the coverings which had been built for the King's entry to thehouse, and for the shelter of the worshippers on the Sabbath. Thegolden vessels of the House of God were cut in pieces and sent with therest, and the sanctuary itself was shut up. Hezekiah, who came afterhim in B.C. 726, reopened and restored the Holy Place, though it was nowdevoid of most of its treasures.
"To trace the history of the Temple through the days of Hoshea, son ofElah, Manasseh and Amon is perhaps unnecessary. Under Josiah, whosereign marks the last dying glory of the earthly kingdom of David,idolatry was put away, the Temple was renovated and the Ark of theCovenant which had been hidden restored to its place. [2 Chronicles,xxxiv, 3-13; xxxv, 3.] During these repairs the high priest Hilkiahfound the sacred copy of the book of the law and delivered it toShaphan, the scribe, who read it before the king. It was afterwardspublicly read, and incited a new zeal among the people, and once againwas the sanctuary filled with gold and silver vessels. Therefore youwill see that by this period there could not have been any of the actualtreasures placed by Solomon remaining in the Temple."
"The Ark of the Covenant was still there," remarked young Farquhar.
"That is not at all certain," was the old man's reply. "Many of theevents chronicled in the Old Testament are corroborated by theinscriptions found by Flinders Petrie in Egypt and by Layard at Nineveh.Others are negatived, and our chronology rendered uncertain. Certainit is, however," he went on, "that in the fourth year of the reign ofJehoiakim, eighteenth King of Judah (B.C. 608-597), Nebuchadnezzararose, and a few years later advanced to Jerusalem, which he took aftera brief siege. The vessels of the sanctuary were carried off toBabylon, where they were dedicated in the temple of Belus. If you turnto 2 Kings, xxiv, 13, you will there read: `And he carried out thenceall the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of theking's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon,King of Israel had made in the temple of the Lord, as the Lord hadsaid.'"
"Surely it was Ezekiel who went as one of the prisoners ofNebuchadnezzar to Babylon," remarked Gwen.
"Yes," replied her father, "on the second occasion when the Babylonianking attacked the city. But," he added, "in the reference I have justgiven you, you will note that the vessels are described as `those thatSolomon had made.' Either therefore they had been too massive forremoval on the many previous occasions when the temple was plundered orthey had been made to replace the ancient originals. The latter is myown theory. Now, as I dare say you will recollect, in B.C. 586, on thetenth day of the fifth month, Ab, Nebuchadnezzar again advanced againstthe rebellious city of Jerusalem and destroyed it. The two greatpillars of the temple porch, Jachin and Boaz, and Solomon's brazen seawith the twelve bulls supporting it, were broken in pieces and theirbrass transported to Babylon, together with a great number of captives.And on the third day of the catastrophe, in the nineteenth year ofNebuchadnezzar, the temple and the city were committed to the flameswith the palaces of the king and princes, and all the chief houses ofJerusalem, and their walls levelled to the ground."
"Then that was the actual end of Solomon's temple," remarked FrankFarquhar. "Is that authentic?"
"Without a doubt," said the Professor. "Yet did not Jeremiah comfortthe Jews amid all these judgments by contrasting His destruction of theother nations of their present oppressors with His correction ofthemselves? `Fear thou not, O Jacob, my servant, saith Jehovah, for Iam with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither Ihave driven thee; _but I will not make a full end of thee, but correctthee in measure_; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.' Surelyno words could more fully express the principle of Jehovah's dealingswith the Jews, His own people, in every age."
"Belshazzar, at his feast in Babylon, put to sacrilegious uses thevessels of the temple, did he not?" asked the young man.
"Yes," answered Griffin, and addressing Gwen said: "Turn to the fifthchapter of Daniel, dear, and read out the first four verses."
The girl found the place and read as follows: "Belshazzar, the King,made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before thethousand. Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the
golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken outof the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the King and his princes, hiswives and his concubines, might drink therein. Then they brought thegolden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of Godwhich was at Jerusalem; and the King, and his princes, his wives, andhis concubines, drank in them. They drank wine and praised the gods ofgold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone."
"And at that moment," remarked the Professor, "was seen the prophetichandwriting on the wall: `_Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin_,' being followedby the city's surprise by Cyrus the Great, and its fall and