1 Kings 14:15-16

The Future of Israel.

The vision of the Shilonite concerning the house of Israel, now before us, seems to have come upon him suddenly. We think the exclamation, "But what? Even now!" was the half-involuntary expression of the surprise of this new revelation. This utterance should, then, have stood at the beginning of 1 Kings 14:15 rather than at the end of the verse preceding. The connecting particle "For," with which 1 Kings 14:15 now opens, favours this view. The new vision describes the then future calamities of Israel, together with their provoking causes.

I. HE WAS HENCEFORTH TO BE TROUBLED IN HIS OWN LAND . He is there to stagger and tremble under the stroke of God—

1 . " As a reed is shaken in the water ."

2 . As a reed shaken by the wind .

II. THEN TO BE SCATTERED IN THE LANDS OF STRANGERS .

1 . A captivity of Israel is foretold .

2 . Also the region of their dispersion .

III. THESE VISITATIONS WERE TO EXPRESS THE ANGER OF GOD .

1 . First provoked by their Canaanitish idolatries .

2 . Then by their complicity in the sin of Jeroboam .