The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1902-12-12
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Loosen ~ TIE International Sesose
fos Dece mber ~, 1OO3-Ths
Hoy samuel.
THE LESSON TEXT.
Il Sam 2.6-l4l

|
lie down; and II shall be. II He call thee
that thou shalt say. Speak. Lord for Tn,
servant heareth. So Samuel went and lal
down in his place.
~. And the Lord came, ard stood. an,
called as at other times. Samuel. Samuel
Then Samuel answered. Speak. for tn,
servant heareth.
II. And the Lord said TO Samuel. Beh old
VIII do thing in Israel. at which both
the ears OF every one that heareth IL shall
Jingle.
II. In that day l will perform against
Ell All things wisch have spoken con
corning his house. when begin, Will ais,
make ar end.
70. For have told him that will judge
his house forever for the iniquity which he
! knoweth, because his sons made them
seiV.s vile. and he restrained them not.
IL And therefore 1 have sworn unto the
house OF Eli, that the iriquiiy OF ELS house
shail rot be purgec with sacrifice nor oner-
| irg for ever
GOLDEN TENT.-Speak. Lord; for
Thy servant heareih.-I sam. $40.
OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURE SECTION.
iaHnah prayer. Sam. J.
dAEn.hs song. sam. 9.l-ll,
San samuel In the tabernAcls....i sam 2:i2-9 g.
T III. warning ......;.......-...l sam 2z. 70
AAe call or Sdmuel.............l sam. 81 ".
| TlME-B. &. I'LL andIll65.
PLACE-Shiloh and Ramah.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
The Lords call came to Samue.
when he was mere lad, because he
wished to use him then and still
more fully when he should become Q
man. Unquestionably Samuel did a
much larger work because of his
early conservation to God. He is one
of the great men Of history. Eli
did something towards bringing
about the unity of the tribes: Sam
uel thoroughly completed it. He de-
livcred Israel from the Philistines;
brought it back to the worship Of
Jehovah; judged the nation worthily;
prepared the way for the monarchy;
instituted school for prophets, etc.
His whole life shows the value Of
right beginning.
The circumstances attending the
birth and early life of the worlds
great and good men are always of
interest and value. We study he
child in order to know the man. SO
we treasure the facts about the
childhood of Joseph, Moses, samuel,
David, and more than all, of Jesus
the Christ.
Chapter ! tells of the grief of
Hannah, because God had given her
no children. Her husbands other
wife--for in those days men often
bad several wives-had children, and
she tainted Hannah in a very un-
kind way because she was not so
blessed. This was especially hard to
bear at the time of the yearly visit
of the family TO Shiloh, to worship
at the tabernacle. Shiloh was at this
time the religious capital of Israel.
On one of these visits. though her
husband Elkanah tried to comfort
her. she was too sad to eat, and,
after the sacrificial feast was over,
she remained behind lin bitterness
of soul. and prayed unto Jehovah,
in her heart that if Jehovah should
answer her prayer she would bring
the child up as a Nazarite and ded.
cate him wholly to Jehovah's serv-
ice. Though at first Eli. who was
high priest. thought from her
strange actions that she was drunk,
he soon saw his mistake and said to
her: go in peace and the God of
Israel grant thy petition"
The next year when the family
went up to Shiloh. Hannah remained
nj home 10 take care Of the child
that had been born not long before,
and whom she had named Samuel,
which means asked of God"
The song which follows seems Ia
be only remotely connected with the
foregoing. Its theme is the humili-
alton Of the lofty and the exaltatfon
Of the lowly, which is developed with
no special reference TO Hannah's cir
cumstances" The reference
TO Jehovah's king leads many TO
think that II was composed during
the kingdom which had not been
established in IIannah's time.
Now thas the tabernacle was 10.
Gated permanently Mt Shiloh. add.
tions of wood were built on around
II for the use of priests. II was here
that Eli and Samuel lived.
''The word Of Jehovah was pre-
cious:" Better. was rare. mo fire.
uuent vision" The prophets, MS
large class, had not yet arisen. "The
lamp not yet gone OUT"
The light burned in the sanctuary
till dawn. Jehovah said TO Samuel"
Remember that Samuel was a very
little boy. and yet the truth Of God
came TO him directly as il did not
come 10 the venerable high priest
himself. Ills sons and he
restrained them not:" The whole
story illustrates the dreadful results
that follow a parents moral weak
ness in the bringing up Of head
strong children.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.
II there were more mothers like
Hannah there would be more bows
like Samuel
The child that Is dedicated 10 God
even before his birth will he likely
10 serve God early in life.
The child that Is given 10 the Lord
will not be likely ever to be an afflic-
tion Ia his parcntg