  THE KINGDOM OF ISRAEL. FIRST READING.
SOLOMON'S son was named Rehoboam. He was foolish and hasty; and when his father's wise old men gave him good advice he would not listen to them, but only cared for his young friends, who were as foolish as himself. So when the Israelites came to him to ask him not to be hard upon them, and make them bring him so much corn and so many sheep, the old men told him to answer them kindly and gently, but the young men said he had better be fierce and sharp. So he followed the young men's advice, and made a very unkind answer. This made them all so angry that they said they would not have him for their king any longer; but they took Jeroboam, a brave strong man of the tribe of Ephraim, and made him their king. Only two tribes still held steady to Rehoboam. These were the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. God left him these, because of the promise that King David's sons should go on sitting on his throne. But ten of the tribes had made Jeroboam their king; so that now there were two kingdoms—a large one called Israel, and a small one called Judah. This was because Solomon had let his heart turn away from QUESTIONS.
SECOND READING.
IT is a sad story that you hear to-day. There was a man who was called a prophet, because God spoke to him, and used to send him to declare His will to the people. Once God called this prophet, and told him to go to a place called Bethel, where the wicked king of Israel, Jeroboam, had set up a golden idol in the shape of a calf, and was teaching the people to pray to it, instead of going to the Temple at Jerusalem to worship. He was to tell the king of his sin, and how his idol should be overthrown and destroyed; and when he had done this, he was to come home at once, by a different way, and neither eat bread nor drink water, but come quickly back. The prophet went to Bethel, and he spoke God's words to the king boldly; and when the king put out his hand to strike him God struck the hand, so that Jeroboam could not draw it back till the prophet prayed for him. Then Jeroboam felt God's power, and wanted the prophet to come to his palace with him. He had so far done well; but before he had gone all the way he grew tired, and he sat down under an oak. It was a great pity that he delayed, for there was a bad man coming after him with a lie upon his lips. This man told the prophet that God had said he was to come back and eat and drink; and I am grieved to say the prophet listened, and turned back. He ought to have known that God would have told him Himself if he was to go back; but he did not think—he did what pleased himself, not what pleased God; and he went back to feast with this stranger. But God's anger came upon him. When he went back in the evening, a lion came out of the wood and killed him. The lion did not kill the ass he rode upon, nor tear the body, and the ass did not run away from the lion; but the lion and ass both stood by the dead prophet till—who do you think found him? The very man who had tempted him to do wrong! Must not that have been a terrible sight? QUESTIONS.
THE QUEEN OF SHEBA VISITING SOLOMON. THIRD READING.
IT is very sad to say, but the Israelites went on getting more fond of idols, and would not worship God. They grew so wicked that at last He punished them, to teach them who sent the rain and did them good. He would not let it rain for three whole years. No rain by day, no dew by night! The corn would not grow, the grass dried up, and all the streams were nothing but stones; so that there was nothing to eat or to drink, and everyone was in sad distress. There was one good man, a prophet, called Elijah, and God took care of him. He sent him to a lonely place, by the side of a little mountain stream, where there still was water to drink; and every morning and evening there came two ravens, who ELIJAH FED BY THE RAVENS.—1 Kings 17:5, 6. In time the brook dried up, and then God sent Elijah to a town called Zarephath. There Elijah saw a poor woman gathering sticks, and he asked her to give him a bit of something to eat. But the poor widow woman said she had nothing for herself and her son but a handful of meal and a little oil, and she was going to make a cake of it, and bake it with a fire of her sticks; and that was the last she could get, so they must die of hunger after they had finished. THE WIDOW'S SON RESTORED TO LIFE.—1 Kings 17:21, 22. But Elijah still told her to make him a little cake first, for he said, "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth." And the woman believed him, and gave him a bit of her last cake. And it was as he said. There was always meal and oil enough to feed them day by day: the widow, and her son, and the At last the child fell sick and died; and his mother grieved for him. But Elijah laid the child on his bed, and prayed to God to have mercy on the widow: and God had mercy. The little child's soul came back, and he was alive again; and Elijah gave him to his mother. Are not these three great wonders of God's goodness? God does not let us see miracles now, as He did in those times, because we are taught to believe in Him without them. But He still takes care of us. He takes care that if we trust to Him, and pray to Him, we shall have our food every day. And if we are ready to give what we want ourselves away to one who needs it, He will make it up to us, and take care of us all the more. And though no one is brought to life now who has died, yet God often gives us back our friends when they have been very ill; and we know that we shall all rise up from the dead and live with God for ever, at a greater call than Elijah's. QUESTIONS.
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