The second General in command inquired of the Grecian Priest the cause of such mortality among the soldiers; and the Priest returned the following answer:—:
“The King of men, the reverend Priest defied,
And, for the King's offence, the people died.”
The similarity between the Jehovah of the Jews, and the Apollo of the Greeks, is very striking. Jehovah slew the Jewish army because David numbered the people; and the Grecian god slew the soldiers because the Priest had been insulted. The number is exactly the same, each being seventy thousand men. The God of the Jews is said to have been the author of the destruction of the army of the Israelites, and a heathen god the destroyer of the Greeks. The first is believed to be a part of Divine Revelation; the last is acknowledged to be but fiction.
From all the accounts recorded respecting David, to me he appears to have been a wicked man; much worse than Saul, whose worst action seems to have been his humanity in sparing Agag, whom he took prisoner. I cannot, therefore, believe, that the Universal Ruler of all Nature sanctioned his actions, directly or indirectly, any more than he does now, or ever has done, those of any other legal murderer.
A few remarks more will conclude the life and conduct of David. In 1 Kings, chapter i., it is recorded, that David being old and infirm, could get no warmth in bed, and a fair young damsel was sought for throughout the land of Israel, to wait on him by day, and sleep with him during the night, to keep the old King warm. With her he was much pleased, but the account states, that “David the King knew her not.” This is a strange tale, for if the sole object was, to get a young woman to sleep with him, then not the fairest, but the fattest, plumpest girl to be found throughout the land, would have been the most proper person for such service; for at that time, David must have had half a score of wives living. It is therefore clear, that warmth was only a pretence for selecting a handsome young maiden to comfort the Lord’s anointed; and we may safely infer that David was not cured of his former tricks.
The life and conduct of Solomon must now pass in review. When his father was on his death-bed, he gave his son Solomon instructions to put to death several persons who had been the subjects of David, but to whom he (David) had sworn while living, that he would spare their lives. And accordingly, Solomon, after the death of his father, put into execution the orders he had received, and slew the persons mentioned by David; so that his reign commenced in blood.
And here it is proper to notice, that Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, and the mother of Solomon, in order to disinherit the eldest son of David by his former wife, prevailed on David to have Solomon anointed King, in the lifetime of his father. So that Adonijah, the real heir, was set aside; and the better to secure the throne, Solomon had his half-brother put to death. The cause of this execution, as is recorded, was because Adonijah asked leave of Solomon, the King, to marry the damsel who kept David warm in his old age! Jehovah had chosen a strange family, after turning out Saul from the-kingdom, and Solomon was too pure to let a brother live, after being so wicked as to ask permission to marry the young virgin who had kept the back of his old father warm in a cold night!
After Solomon had slain those men according to the orders before given by his father, he added another to the list, viz., Adonijah, his half-brother. The Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, “Ask what I shall give thee.” Solomon then dreamed that he gave the following reply to the gracious permission:—“Give, therefore, thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad.” This request is said to have pleased the Lord, who added to it “both riches and honor”; “and-Solomon awoke, and behold it was a dream.” This account is written in 1 Kings, chapter iii.; and all that can be made of it is, that Solomon dreamed the Lord told him so, and we have nothing but his word for it.
The Bible record of Solomon’s riches, and, in fact, the whole of his life, is not entitled to any credit whatever. We may say, however, that some allowance ought to be made for Solomon on account of the bad example under which he was brought tip in the family of his father; for if the Scripture history of the facts concerning Solomon is to be considered true, then the whole of his reign is the most extraordinary which ever happened in the world. Beginning with his riches, it exceeds every thing in ancient or modern times. The feast at the opening of the Temple was no small matter.
Scripture informs us, that at the dedication of the Temple, Scripture informs us, that at the dedication of the Temple, the sacrifice offered up, was twenty-two thousand oxen, and one hundred and twenty-two thousand sheep. This, when we consider the smallness of David’s domains, and the general poverty of his family, is incredible; but as every thing is so wonderful, and the whole of the reign of Solomon is so extravagant, no dependence whatever is to be placed on any of its accounts.