The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1902-12-19
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
s-essen 10 the istsraatiesa1 sesson
Ger 0er-mber "a. iSo:-<a nuos
tic Jadxe.

-
a sam T.z-ls)
& Arc u came TO pass. while the ~
Iboce N kirjathJear!rE. that the time wa
long. for II was twenty years: arc all the
house o. Israel iamsnted after the LorA
= Ard Samuel space snto an the house
OF Israel saying. IL you do return unto t1s
Lord with all your hearts. then put awAs
the strange goes and Akhtaroth frow
amorg you. and prepare your hearts urtt
the Lord. and serve Hlm or.y: ard lie VII
-s.iyer VOC out o. the hand Of the Phi
tirss.
4. Their the chndr~. OF Israel die
Away Baa!im ano Ashtaroth. and servl&
the Lore orly MI
5. ARD samuel said. Gather all Israel q
hixpeh. and ! will pray for you unto III
Lord N#
. Arc they gathered together 20 Mxpeh.
ard drew water. and poured i o.. before
tn@ Lore. and fAsteI on that cny. and sa6
there. We have siLned against the Lord
Ane samuel judged the children Of Israes
Nxpch-
= AEc whsr the Phlls tines heard that the
ehl.ser of Israel were gathered together
70 Azpeh. me lorcs Of the Philistires went <
40 against Israel And when the childreu
" Israel heard ~. they were afraid Of the "A
Ph.llst.Les
: And the children Of Israel said 10 SANE
1ei. Cease not 10 cry unto the Lord cur God
( Tor Us. that he Will save Us out Of the hand
o. the PhiilstlEe@
, Arc samuel took a sucking amb. an0
onerec i for . burnt Offering wholly uric
the Lord, and Samuel cried unto the Lord
tor Israel; aro the Lord heard him
~ And as samuel was offering up the
burnt Offering. the Philistines drew near
10 battle against Israel: but the Lord thun-
eefec With a great thurcer on that Gay
upon the PhillStiEes. and csscomfted then.
arc they were snitten before Israel
II Ard the nleE Of Israel went out Of Miz-
peE, and pursued the PhilistineS. ara smoto
them. urtI they came under Beihcar
l. Then Samuel took a stone. and set -
between M.zp~h and shen. and called ths.
name Of L Ebenezer saying Hitherto hatlt
the LORD helped u MI
- SO the Ph.-istires were subcued. and
they came no more into the coast " Israeli
arc the hand Of The Lord was against the.
PEilistizes al the days Of Samuel
GOLDEN TEXT. Prepare y0ud
hearts unto the Lord. and serve Hiul
only sam. a. n
OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURE SECTION
The ark captured. sam. e.
TIE captors tictec--..........-.I sam. s. N
LIE ARK recovered .-.....-......---l sam. s.
TIE PhlLstres defeated ...-......i sam. Z. 4
IlME-B- n. 1lsi and 1f41
PI-AcE-Ehenzer Ashcod. Gait. Ekron,
b tL-snemeSh and Mzpeh.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
In their first encounter with the
Philistines. the Israelites took the ark
Of God into battle. thinking thereby
10 make victory sure. In doing this
they showed that they believed in the
ark more than in the Lord. By their
defeat they learned that false faith il
no protection. When they again faced
their foes. the Israelites besought
Samuel 70 pray for them. What God
can DO for His people in emergencies
j. shown by His answer TO samuel's
prayer
There was constant war between
the Philistines and Israel. and the
Philistines seem TO have been the
more powerful. or at least the better
organized. Israers attempt TO devel-
op a strong. independent national life
without king was failure.
The taking OF the ark to the battle.
field shows that II had come to be re-
garded superstitiously by the people.
They thought the ark would in some
magic way insure victory. Images and
charms OF all sorts have often been
carried into battle in this way. Peo-
pie who depend on .'good-luck"
charms. or anything besides their own
/
are doomed to failure as surely 40
were the Hebrews Els tragic end
shows Us that moral weakness is a.
terrible in its consequences as more
willfuI and aggressive wickedness. Ell
was criminarIy weak.
The FhiliStines. too. regarded the
ark with suspicious dread. Strange
things happened when they put II in
one Of their shrines with Dagon. and
a terrible disease broke ont in the city.
What could explain II but the enmity
Of the God Of the ark? No one want
"a IT. and 50 they sen: il from one
place. til another. Disease SEEMED to
follow ii everywhere.
In the house Of Aminadab. who was
probably Levite. the ark was rev.
erersly kept for % years. There
were no sacrifices or other religious
services 80 far as we know. The sane
tuary at Shiloh had lost prestige with
the removal Of the ark and the death
Of the priests. and II never regained il.
what Samuel was doing during these
wears we do not know. In verses ,, 4.
We find him leading a movement for
reform. The Philistine< seemed to
have feared trouble from the gather
ing ~ Israel AZ Mixpeh. anSw up %
disrerse them: bnt through Samuel
Israel called upon Jehovah. and He
sent a terrific thunderstorm upon the
enemy. which so demoralized them
that Israel won an easy victory. Verso
n must he taken in connection with
o.fs. rs: 1873. 10. which modify the in
terpretation ~ it. There were three
Philistine inva sions Of the land after
this time. and all during the life or
samuel.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.
The supplication 81 righteous
man availeth much in its working
jas. 5.fe.
.More things ar, wrought BY PRAYER
than this world dreams of."-Tenny-
son.
PRAYER moves the Hand that moves
the WORLD. John Aikman Wallace.
.Little faith will get very great
mercies. but great faith still greater
Rev. Charles Sturgeon.