The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1889-07-12
ELS S0RR0WFUL DEATH.
LESSON H. THIRD QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, JULY ID.

NATIONAL SEhleSJ JULY III.
Text of tho Lesson, Sam, iv, 1-1S-Com-
nit to Memory Verses 17-1s-Goldcn
Text, I Sam. iii, 13-Commentary by
the Rev. ID. NJ. Stearns.
Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per-
mission Of II. S. Hoffman, publisher, Philndel-
phia.l
When Samuel told to Eli the message from
the Lord the attitude of his heart towards
God is made manifest in his reply: "It is the
Lord; let Him do what seemeth Him good. J"
His meek submission is commendable, but
prompt and decisive dealings with his SONS
would have been better.
]. 1.-The word OF Samuel came to all Israel -
That Is the word Of the Lord through Samuel,
for he, as the Lords prophet, would speak
the Lords message alag. i, 1S); and thus oil
Israel would know through him tho will of
the Lord.
2. Israel was slnitten before tho Philis-
tines" This indicates that God was not with
them, for had He been in their midst victory
would have been certain: zone should chase
thousand and two put ten thousand to
flight" He had promised to fight for them
when He sent them forth Deut. i, 80; Iii, %;
xxi, 30, SO that this going out against the
enemy and this defeat was not the result of
Gods leading.
3. "Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of
the Lord; * <: it may save u.s." They did
not look to the Lord to save them, they were
not at this time worshiping Him, but. idols,
and they speak of this holy vessel as if it
were an idol which perhaps may have moro
power than the other idols which they wor-
SHIPPED; tbut their iniquities had separated
between them and God, and their sins had
hid His face from them.
4. $50 the people sent to Shiloh, that they
might bring from thence tho ark Of tho cove
nant of the Lord of Hosts, which dwelleth
between the cherubim." Thus they add sin
to sin and are so blinded thet they see not the
enormity Of this sin. Consider the signifl-
canoe of this holy vessel mentioned eleven
times in this chapter, and that its place in
tho tabernacle was in the Holy Of Holes into
which the High Priest alone entered but onco
q year and never without the blood Of the
sacrifice, typifying tho blood of Jesus Christ;
consideralso the expression 's(lwelleth between
the cherubimn found here for tho first time,
and only seven times in all Scripture QI Sam.
vi, >; IIK1ngs xix, 15; Chr. xiii, 6; Ps. Xxx,
l.; xcix, 1; Isa. xxxvii, 1G); carrying us back
to Ex. XIV, %, where we find its origin The
Lord Of Hosts will be entreatcd by, and do
great things for, every penitent heart that
humb]y seeks Him, but when such blind and
blasphemous hands approach Him they can
only expect His wrath.
O. "All Israel shouted with great shout. y
1t was not likethe great shout when the walls
of Jericho fell, or when the foundation of tho
second temple was laid Josh. vi, 90; Ezra iii,
ll-13, for then it was shout because tho
Lord was in their midst and tho work was
for His glory, but this was simply the shout
OF Israel without reference to tho glory Of
God; it may have been louder shout than
on the other occasions, but it was all noise
with no power to it.
60. "God is come into the camp" When
the Philistines heard tho shout. and under
stood the cause of it, they were afraid, sup
posing the ark was Israel's God as Dagon was
theirs, but although they trenble at the pos
sible results, remembering what they had
heard of the wonders in Egypt and in tho
wilderness, they are ready to make trial
of tho power Of their god against Is
racl's God and urge their soldiers to
be strong and quit themselves like
men, lest they become servants to the He
brews. 1t is not TO be wondered at that tho
Phiiistines knew not the God Of Israel nor His
mighty power, when Israel knew not their
own God nor relied upon Him.
10: "lsrael was snitten; 4 there
fell Of Israel thirty thousand footmen.n Is
rael was chosen to rely upon God that He
might shew forth His power, and whenever
she failed to do so her defeat was sure. Two
things were required of her; that she should
be Holy and by implicit reliance upon, and
obedience to her God, magnify His name.
The same two things are required now of
every Christian and Of every church.
II. 1.-THE ark Of God WIS taken: II 4
tho two sons of Eli were slain.m Tho next
two chapters tell of the journeyings of tho
ark in the land Of the Philistines and how
tho hand Of the Lord was against the people
wherever it rested until they were glad to re-
turn it to Israel with an offering.
12-17. eli sat upon q seat by the wayside,
watching, for his heart trcmbled for the urk
OF God" Only twice outside Of these first
four chapters of Samuel do we find tho
name of Eli in the Bible CHAP. xiv, 8; 1
Kings, ii, 20, yet he lived to be 9S yeal's old
and Judged Israel forty years. He does not
seem to have walked very closely with God
or to have been very intimate with Him, for
tho only two special messages which we read
Of God giving to him were not direct but
through others, Us in last weeks lesson,
through the child Samuel, and in chap ii, 81,
through man of God whose namo is not
mentioned. And Us we see him in these
verses, watching and tremblingly waiting for
tidings from the army, his heart, like The
hearts Of the people, seems to be more upon
the ark and its safety than upon God and His
glory, as if O minister should now say or
think that if his church, OF oven denomina-
| tion, should go to smash, tho cause
Of Christ would perish. The same
thought seems to have been in tho
heart Of tho wife Of Phinehas who died that
Same day lamenttng the death of her father
in-law and her husband, and that the arl Of
God was taken, saying "The glory is depart
| ed from Israel" She and her father-in-law
were wonderfully interested In the ark and
its safety all at once, while 1t seems TO have
mother troubled nor benefited them much
while 1t was in its place in the Holy of Holes;
and that the holy vessel should fall into the
hands Of the Philisttnes seems to have been
in their sight far more grievous thing than
chat Hophni and Phinehas should daily break
the holy commandments Of God, written by
His own finger on the tablets of stone con-
tanned in the ark. The glory Of Israel wasnot
tho house of Eli Of which four died that day,
nor even the ark itself, precious holy vessel
| though 1t was; but God Himself, the Lord of
Hosts, the God Of Israel, whom no Phiiistine
could touch, and whom the death Of all the
priests and prophets that ever lived could not
affect. Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus, rely
wholly upon Him, keep His commandments,
magnify His name, seek His glory, and losing
sight Of self or church or denomination, OK
cept in so far as they may honor Him,
seek with the whole heart and all our might
to hasten the completion Of His church and
| the coming of His kingdom