The National tribune., 1895-10-24

religious gathering. Il was a season OF critical
| self-inspectioD. 1t was ht preparation Tor
reformation and reconsecration. Doubtless ii
was genuine work OF grace.
According to the Hebrew method OF worship .,
consisting of the sacrificing Of animals, burnt
| offering presented unto the Lord. The
victim was lamb. We. 1t could not have
| been less than seven days old. Lev, %: 81.
| 1t was offered wholly" Kitto's explanation
is very good: He offered it entire, without TAX
ing off the skin. which was the perqHisite of the
priest, and without dividing the carcass into
| parts, as usual, and separating the head. the
| tail, the feet and the internal fat. Samuel
| could not be unacquainted with tho proper
| ceremonies, but there was probably no time for
| their exact observance"
But Samuel was not priest. And Mizpeh
was not the one place appointed for the offering
| Of sacrifices Possibly, however, Samuel did
| not act as priest in presenting sacrifice; he
| may have directed priest to make the saeri-
| fee. l Sam, 1913, shows how Samuel
! blamed Saul for such presumption. 1t is ad-
mitted Samuel was prophet, and some bold
| prophets specially in emergencies, could exer-
| else priestly functions. Elijah, we remember,
though not priest, offered a sacrifice / XII,
ID: 3I-3S. But time comes when even \ lay
man can assume important clerical duties.
Some branches of the Christian Church, Q. e.,
permit Of baptism by a layman; yea, even by
a woman. in case of probably sudden death.
Some have said il is more fit that a layman who
is truly sincere and pious present an Offering to
God than that an unholy man in orders perform
such an act. Nevertheless. it is not unlikely
that Eleazer offered the sacrifice. He was a
priest and hence clothed with authority. "Qai
fact per alteTum. Jacit per Sc" meaning he who
does an act through another does it himself,
may explain all the difficulty.
The Battle.
The Philistipes that tho Iaraeiiteq
were planning attack. Hence they proceeded
at once to try to drive them away from Mizpeh,
making an onset upon the Israelites while the
latter were in the acts of worship. Samuel, in
accordance with his promise in verse s. offered
prayer in behalf of his people. who. remem-
herring his promise besought its fulflment.
II is not likely the Israelites were armed. The
Philistines would take precaution that their
slaves he deprived of implements for war. /
Sam, 13: 10. God came to the rescue, bringing
into effectiveness the ightnings of the sky.
Josephus adds there was an earthquake. j.
Ant, 6, 2:2. The Phiistines were beaten, and
the Israeltes followed up their advantage to
Beth-Car.
The Memorial
To keep the victory in mind rs a constant
inspiration TO the Israelites, Samuel set mp q
stone in the vicinity of the victory, taking
precaution not to give the honor Of triumph
TO Baal, but TO Jehovah.
The evil our Philistines. We conquer
them through Christ our Captain. Hence the
familiar lines of Robinson:
Here I'll raise mine Ebeuezer;
HIther by thy help I'm come;
And hope. by thy good pleasure,
Safely To arrive AT home.
Jesus sought me when stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He to rescue from danger,
Interposed his precious blood.