“In the days of these two kings, Elijah made his appearance; he may be called by eminence _the prophet_. His native place was Thisbah, but he traversed the whole country from side to side, clad in a skin, with a leathern girdle about his loin, denouncing, in the boldest and most glowing terms, the worship of Baal—a fearful and sublime phenomenon. Now he appears boldly before the throne—now he wanders a fugitive in the wilderness: at one time he denounces the wrath of Jehovah on backsliding Israel; at another he slaughters, on Carmel, the idolatrous priests of Baal: to-day he is the messenger of Jehovah to bring comfort to the widow of Zarephath, to-morrow he appears before Ahab and his queen, and predicts their dreadful fate. His name carries terror with it to the hearts of the guilty, and inspires the righteous with courage. “His disciple, Elisha, anointed Jehu, and predicted that the kingdom should continue in his family to the fifth generation. These kings, though not acceptable to God as David was, yet opposed the progress of idolatry. Jehu put to death the worshippers of Baal, and made a pool of his temple. In consequence this dynasty continued on the throne and flourished till the fifth generation; and under the fourth, Jeroboam, the son of Joash, the ancient limits were regained, and Israel extended from Hamath to the sea of the plain, as Jonah, the son of Amittai, had foretold to him.[46] Still, however, the calves remained in Dan and Bethel, the relics of that idolatry which the people had learned in Egypt. As a punishment for this, a terrible interregnum ensued, at the close of which, Zechariah, the fifth from Jehu, came to the throne, but was murdered by Shallum. This is the third fulfilment of the prophecy of Jehovah respecting the royal houses of Israel. Footnote 46: 2 Kings xiv. 25. “This is the time in which Jonah, Amos, Hosea, and the great Isaiah, prophesied. Jonah was sent to Nineveh, the largest city then existing, to preach the judgments of Jehovah. Amos, one of the shepherds of Tekoah, prophesied to all the surrounding nations, and last of all to Judah and Israel, the punishment of their sins, beginning with these terrific words: The Lord will thunder from Zion, And utter his voice from Jerusalem. The habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, And the top of Carmel shall wither. “And as he successively denounces to Damascus, to Gaza, to Tyre, and the other neighbouring states, the punishments that awaited them, he begins each prophecy with the alarming words, Thus saith Jehovah; Three sins I have passed by, The fourth I cannot overlook. “He beholds first the approach of a desolating flight of locusts, then a terrible fire, and having interceded against both, he sees the Lord, standing with a plummet in his hand beside the wall, and hears the words: