The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1889-07-04
SAMUEL CALLED OF d0Q
LESSON |, THIRD QUARTER, lNTE<
NATIONAL SERIES, JULY 7.

Text Of the Lesson, l Sam. III, 1-14-Com-
nit to Memory Verses s-10-Golden
Text, L Sam. Iii, 1o-Commentary by the
Rev. ID. NJ. Stearns.
Compiled from Lesson Helper Quarterly by per
mission of Fl. s. Hoffman. publisher. Philadel
phia.
Having spent six months upon the life of
our Lord Jesus as recorded In the Gospel by
Mark we now return to the study of the
book which Jesus loved and from which He
always preached, "expounding unto them in
all the Scriptures the things concerning Him
self" duke xiv, 27.)
L "And the child Samuel ministered unto
the Lord before Eli" Our last Old Testa-
ment studies were In the book OF Judges and
closed with the incidents OF the book of Ruth
We are now, about to study the life of the
hast of the judges. who was also prophet, as
it IL written in Acts xiii, 20. HE gave unto
them judges about the space of four hundred
and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet u
We must think of Israel as having been in
the nioyment Of that good land which God
gave unto them over 400 wears; the taber-
nacle Is still at Shiloh tchap i,'3. 2z), where
it had been set up In the days of Joshua
Josh xviii, u; Eli is the judge, and his sons,
Lord tchaps iv, 1918; i, 81, but as we shall
see in our lesson today they are far from
being godly men In these days of apostasy,
Eli being old and his sons wicked, certain
woman named Hannah asks and receives
from God a child, whom she promises to give
unto the Lord all the days of his life, calling
hi. name Samuel. which signifies ASKED of
God" CHAP. i, IL, 20.
. it1'ha Tannuia of .ha ord urhara fh..
Ark of God was" The temple here men,
toned is the tabernacle which Moses had
built in the wilderness, and which had now
been for so long time at Shiloh, in the inner
room of which, or Holy of HOLES, was the
Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all tho
earth Josh. iii, IL, and in the outer room or
Holy Place was the table of shewbread, the
golden ;ltar of incense, and the golden seven
branched candlestick or lamp stand, the
lamps of which were lighted every evening
and dressed every morning.
4. 1.-THE Lord called Samuel, and he an
swered, Here am l." Samuel is supposed
by Josephus TO have been at this time about
twelve years of age.
). "And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here
am |, for thou cailedst me" Thinking that
Eli had called him, he rose up quickly and
ran to him with these words, but Eli not
having called him and not seeing that it was
the voice of the Lord, bids him to lie down
again, aud Samuel obeys How quickly the
boy responded to what he supposed was the
call of Eli; what pronptness, what denial to
self of the qualification of little more slum-
Der; grand lesson for all.
Z. "Now Samuel did not yet know the
Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet
revealed unto him" He knew the Lord
through the words of Moses and Joshua and
Ininistered unto Him as thus revealed, but up
to this time the Lord had not spoken directly
to Samuel.
8. "And the Lord called Samuel again the
third time" And again he arose and went to
Eli with the same words, "Here am |; for
thou didst call me-" What parents heart
would not be made glad by such a son; what
unwearied though apparently fruitless obe-
dience, but it shall be rewarded. Eli at last
perceives that it is the voice of God and that
the Lord has actually called the child; the
only recorded instance in which the Lord
spoke in a vision in an audible voice to a
little boy; but let all the children know and
believe that when they read the Bible or hear
it read God is as really speaking to them in
His word as when He spoke to Samuel
10. "And the Lord came, and stood, and
called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel
Then Samuel answered, Speak, for thy SER
want heareth." The Lord knew that Samuel
did not know His voice, and so He came
again and again so lovingly and patiently
until Samuel, through Eli, had been taught
that it was the voice of God and then with
entire surrender Of soul the boy yields him
self to the word and viii of God. Does it not
remind us of Jesus Himself at the age of 12,
90 7 IN1n
my Fathers business?" When we are thus
yielded, God will reveal Himself to us.
II. "And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold,
will do thing in Israel at which both the
ears of every one that theareth 1t shall tingle "
He announces that Judgment is about to
come In Israel and that people shall be am
azed at it and tremble The expression fears
| tingling" is only found twice elsewhere III the
Bible QI XII xxi, 12; Jer. xix, 3 and Is in
each case In connection with coming judg-
| ments
| 12 "In that day l will perform against
| Eli, all things which have spoken concern.
| ing his house; when begin will also make
an end" Having made the general state
ment that He would do a mighty work OF
| Judgment in Israel, it might he asked, where
Lord2 In what tribe, or shall it reach the
who'd nationf He Immediately indicate:
where it shall strike, even upon the very head
of the nation, Eli and his house, and He indi
Gates that it shall be short and complete
| 13. "For have told him that will judge
his house for ever for the iniquity which
| he knoweth; because his sons made themselve.
vile, and he restrained them not" Goo
never exercises judgment without mercy.
! IA. "And Therefore have sworn unto the
house Of Eli, that the iniquity of Ellis house
shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offer
| ing forever" !" not because there is not atone
| ment sufficient to reach and remove the sir
| of Ellis house, but because of the lack of re
pentance on their part. Jesus Himself sale
that all manner of sin and blasphemy shall b,
| forgiven unto men; but He also said that the
| blasphemy against tho Holy Spirit shall moi
be forgiven unto rnsn (AIatt. xii, 81; whicl
| if l understand it gnifies the persistent ant
| continued resistance of the Spirit until death
or until He withdraws and leaves to himself
the person thus resisting Him; and when
person is thus left by the Spirit it will b
matter of their souls welfare. Israel as
nation afterward sinned so greatly that j
was said by the Lord: Though Moses an,
Samuel stood before me, yet my mind coult
not be toward this people, And again
Though these three mon, Noah, Daniel AM
Job, were in it they should deliver but thei
| own souls by their Righteousness, saith th
Lord God" der XIV, /; Eek. xiv, 49, An
so it is written: "The wrath of the Lor
arose against His people till there wa
| no remedy" Q1 Chr. xxxvi, 16l, not be
cause God was not willing and able to sav
them, but because they would not be saved
mocking His messengers, despising His word
and misusing His prophets. 1t seems ais
strange that such solemn and weighty mes
sage as this to Eli should be given TO the bo
Samuel: but it was somewhat similar in tn
case of jeremiah, who said: 'Ah, Lord God
Behold | cannot speak for | am child OF
serve the Lords answer to him tJer. /, G.
and lay it to heart. Samuel in the mornin
told Eli every whit, and hid nothing froI
him, and from that time he was establishe
to be q prophet of the Lord Tvs 1921; ho'
it would have been with him il he had ker
back something for fear Of hurting Els fee
fngs, who can telli
CALIFORNIA; Modern Amazon.
Near Forest Ranch, in the mour
tains above Chico, resides youn
lady who for grit and pluck we'll tax
off our hat to every time. The lad
in question, Miss Kate Lucas, reside
! on a mountain ranch with her mothe
and brothers, the latter being engage
in furnishing the meat used by th
\ large humber crews high up in tn
Sierras. Miss Lucas is tall, 1.-THE an
we'll built girl, with red, rosy cheek,
Jet black hair, bright, flashing eye
and is the acknowledged belle of .ths
vicinity. She is an intrepid hors'
woman, and rides fearlessly and alon
over the mountain slopes and throug
the ravines. Che scarns q saddle, an
at times rides O fiery pustang withou
either bride or blanket, simply usin
a iariat, the end tied around hc
horses head and neck. She is cap
tai shot with the rifle and has worste
many of the crack shots there by .ht
unerring aim. She has been out wit
her brothers hunting, and very rarel
> failed TO bag a deer or other wild an
nal which so abound in that section
Sometimes the young miss assists
cu,,t,,r;ro, tba xSild caftIe when the