The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-11-09
The Sunday School Lesson.
SERIES FOR 1885, --FOURTH QUARTER.
STUDIES IN JEWISH HISTORY.

Blessed be thou of the Lord; haze
performed the commandment of the
Lord. He virtually confesses guilt by
anticipating condemnation. Samuels
rythmic reply, What nledneth then this
bledting of the sheep in mine ears, and
the loacing of oren aohich hear? was a
home thrust How could Saul deny that
his campaign had been degraded to a
foragipg expedition, when the captured
focks and the herds were present to tes
tify to the fact? But Saul was ready
with a reply They (obserye he speaks
of his soldiers as if they we're independ-
ent Of his command) haze brought them
(the sheep and oxen) from the An,ale-
kites; for the people (of course the peo-
ple) haze spared the best of the sheep
and of the oren, to sacrifice to the Lord
thy God; and the rest zoe haze devoted.
Flattery of the prophet in the saying
that the sacrifice was to be to HIS Lord,
is too apparent to be adroit.
g. Samuel's Accusation A against
Saul, and Saul's Flimsy Apology,
VS.. 1921.
Samuel proffers to Saul statement
of what he has received of the Lord in
his lonely night-watch. Although the
matter is very irksome to Saul he can
scarcely do less than give permission to
the prophet to speak to him in Gods
name. Samuel then reminds the self
sufficient king of the time when he
thought of himself with humility
when. by his spontaneous confession, he
was of the smallest tribe and of an OBJ
scure family of his tribe in Israel. He
reminds him further that he was chosen
by Jehovah to be king of Israel; which
fact implies that he is Jehovah's sworn
servant And Samuel further shows him
how be. had received special commits
sion from Jehovah (which came, we will
assume, through the high PRIESTS to
utterly destroy the sinners, the ANAL
ekites. The phrasing of the commission
implies that Saul was to regard himself
as the divine Rvenger; his dreadful
work of determination dreadful it must
have been, we think, even to a barbar-
lam was to be fulfilled as the agent Of
relentless and impartial Justice. And,
in contravention of his plain commission
Saul in his victory had .foaon upon the
spoil, like vulture on carrion.
Saul replies like the craven he has be-
come. He says that he has obeyed the
voice of the Lord; that he has fulfilled
the errand on which he was sent; he
says that he has brought back with him
Agag, the king of the Amalekites, while
the Amalekites as whole he has utterly
destroyed. The falsehood of the major
part of his statement is apparent. To
spare Agag, what could it mean save for
his own vindictive glory, perhaps to
grace his barbaric triumph in Gilgal?
And Saul added, as a shallow gloss on
the evidence against him, Bat the people
took of the spoil, sheep and oGe1a. and
the chief of the deUoted things. to sac
rifce unto the Lord thy God an Gilgal.
Falsehood and flattery
3. Saul Rejected by jehovah
vs.. 22-23.
Then Samuel, in the rythmic utterance
of prophet, declared the great princi-
pie of Jehovah's requirement,-tha the
first thing that God requires is obedi-
ence. No sacrifice can be substitute
for obedience. He declares that rebel
lion against God.-by which he means
resistance of the duty clearly revealed
is worse sin that the mental blindness
which permits idolatry, even than the
worship of the household gods known as
teraphim.
Then the stern sentence was pro
nounced against the recreant king: Be-
cause thou hast rejected the acord of the
Lord. he hath also rejected thee from
being king.
Saul cringes before the awful decree.
But his repentance is momentary. He
continues his downward course, as one
who knows he is under doom.