Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1888-12-15
DEATH OF SAMSON.
LESSON XII, FOURTH QUARTER, IN
TERNATIoNAL SERIES, DEC. 10.


Commit verses-Golden Text, Job xxxii.
O-Commentary by Rev. ID. n. stearns.
lCondensed from Lesson Helper Quarterly. By
permission Of II. g. Hoffman. Philadelphia. pub
Usher.
In all the Scriptures tho great truth Is kept
before US that II We would ENJOY peace and
have victory over all enemies, it must be by
mind stayed upon God, and by an humble
walk with Him in cheerful and whole hearted
obedience Another truth brought before
US over and over and over again Is that God
often chooses the most unlikely instruments
with which to accomplish His purposes, that
no flesh may glory In HIS presence And
everywhere we are taught Gods readiness TO
forgive and to restore to favor and useful
moss in some measure when there is a true
turning from sin TO Him, either on the part
OF nation or an individual
Gideon judged Israel forty years and was
succeeded by Abimelech, lola and Jair: then
they did evil again and were oppressed by
the Philistines and Ammonites eighteen
years; God then raised up Jephtha as their
deliverer and judge, and he was succeeded
by Ibzam, Elon and Abdon; then they did
evil again and were delivered into the hands
Of the Philistines, who oppressed them forty
years; God then raised up Samson as . de-
liverer and Judge, and his Is the last rule re-
corded in the book Of Judges, the closing
chapters describing the condition Of things
when ''every man did that which was right
in his own eyes" Chap xvii, 6; XXI, 25.)
q. 1.-THE Philistines took him, and put out
de bfvxa eli
blind and helpless, and consider who he Is
and what he had been. His birth was fore
told by the Lord, who appeared twice to his
mother and once to his father; he was
Nazarite TO God from his birth, that is, one
who was fully separated unto the Lord, hav-
ing nothing to do with the vine, either as to
wine or grapes, and no razor was to come
upon his head CNum. vi, Is; as to his
mighty acts, he had rent q lion as he would
have rent a kid, he had slain thousand men
with tho jawbone OF an ass, when shut in a
city by those who wanted to kill him he arose
in tho night and took the gates and the posts
and the bar on his shoulders and carried
them away to the top OF hill, and many
other marvellous feats of superhuman
strength had he performed. but now his
power and glory have departed from him,
and he is In the power of his enemies, poor,
blind, helpless prisoner What is the cause
Of this terrible fall, and why this reproach
upon the Lord through His servant for not
only is Samson disgraced, but the name of
the Lord is dishonored. Milton in his Sam
son Agonistes" makes him say:
II to God have brought
Dishonor, obloquy. md oped the mouths
or idiots and atheists, have brought scandal
To Israel, difidence OF God, and doubt
In feeble hearts. propense enough before
To waver or fall Off and Join with idols.
The cause was simply that Samson had de-
parted from his conservation and had given
his time and attention TO things which he
should have been separated from. He saw
woman in Timnath; he saw an harlot in GAIA;
no loved woman in the valley of Sorek;
and thus, instead OF making a covenant with
his eyes dob xxi, u, he let his eyes lead
him into trouble, and now he has lost them.
-. The hair OF his head began to grow
again" Not that Samsons strength lay in
his hair, but in his conservation TO God, Of
which his locks were an outward token; and
as we sec the outward evidence of his semra-
ton to God returning, have we not reason to
believe that In his heart there is true peni-
tence and sincere return TO tho God of
Israel, who had so wonderfully called him,
but whom he had so grievously slandered.
20. IA great sacrifice unto Dagon, their
god" Dagon is mentioned ten times in
Samuel V, 81, and once in Chronicles K, 10.
1t was the great national god of the Philis-
tines. Tho namo signifies fish," and its
form is said to have been the face and hands
OF a man with the tail of fish,
81. "rhcy praised their god" II Samson
had only praised the living and true God by
n whole hearted conservation to Him, then
these Gentiles had not had this occasion to
praise their god
''Our God hath delivered into our hands
our enemy" In this and the preceding verse
we find this statement, and they no doubt
thought it true. Nebuchadnezzar probably
thought that he subdued Jehoakim, but it is
written that ssthe Lord gave Jehoiakim into
his hand.n Dan. i, -
p. Call Cor Samsorl, that he may make
US sport" A great company of uncircum-
cised Phiistines Iraising and worshiping
devils or demons. ard a servant OF the Great
God of Israel in their midst making sport
for them. 1t is true ne was not there OF his
Own accord nor was it by any means to his
hiking; but IL he had not OF his own free will
and by his own choice departed from being
consecrated TO God, he had never come to
this most pitiiul AMI disgraceful condition.
q. "The house was full of men and
women" Three thousand on the roof, but
how many thousands inside we arc not told !;
all bebolding while Samson makes sport.
How few such gatherings arc found to
worship God; ono in Brooklyn, one in Lon
don. a few others hero and there; but how
easy to gather the thousands If there Is any
sport in the service of Satan. Which way
does your own heart tend; mean, which
company do you honestly enjoy the mosta
For know that there are Sunday school
teachers who enjoy the so called good time
better than the hoaisc and service of God
* Samson called unto the Lord He
does not seem to have been raised up to lead
forth on army. like Othneii, Deborah and
Bcrak, Gideon or Jephthah, but rather by
acts of personal valor 20 avenge Israel We
now see him IN prayer, his last prayer, and
strange as such prayer may seem to US, God
49, q