soever had
the same means at his disposal, imagined that these gave him the right
to do likewise. And thus dynasty supplanted dynasty, regicide followed
regicide. In the bloody struggles thereby occasioned, the people became
more and more lawless. Sometimes interregna, [Pg 179] and periods of
total anarchy took place; and by these internal struggles the power to
resist external enemies was more and more broken. No king was able to
stop this source of mischief, for such an effort would have required
him to lay aside his position as a king. And as little was any one able
to put a stop to that source of evil formerly mentioned: for, if the
religious wall of partition which was erected between Israel and Judah
were once removed, the civil one likewise threatened to fall.

Such were, in general, the circumstances under which Hosea, like the
other prophets of the kingdom of Israel, appeared. There cannot be any
doubt that these were much more difficult than those of the kingdom
of Judah. There, too, the corruption was indeed very great; but it was
not so firmly intertwined with the foundation of the whole state.
Thorough-going reforms, like those under Hezekiah and Josiah, were
possible. The interest of a whole tribe was closely bound up with the
preservation of true religion.

The reign of Jeroboam II., which was externally so prosperous, and in
which Hosea entered upon his prophetic ministry, had still more
increased the apostasy from the Lord, and the corruption of manners,
and thus laid the foundation for the series of disastrous events which
began soon after his death, and which, in quick succession, brought the
people to total ruin. The prosperity only confirmed them still more in
their security. Instead of being led to repentance by the unmerited
mercy of God (compare 2 Kings xiv. 26, 27), they considered this
prosperity as a reward of their apostasy, as the seal by which
Jehovah-Baal confirmed the rectitude of their ways. The false prophets,
too, did what was in their power to strengthen them in their delusion,
whilst the true prophets preached to deaf ears.

Immediately after the death of Jeroboam, it soon became apparent on
which side the truth lay. There followed an interregnum of from eleven
to twelve years.[1] After the termination [Pg 180] of it, Zachariah,
the son of Jeroboam, succeeded to the throne; but he was murdered by
Shallum, after a short reign of six months, 2 Kings xv. 10. Shallum,
after he had rei