The Tupelo journal., 1902-12-12
THE N D SCHOOL.
lesson In the International Series
for December ID, I002-The
hoy Samuel.
THE LESSON TEXT

yet revealed unto him.
8. And the Lord called Samuel again the
third time. And he arose and went to Eli,
and said. Here am /; for thou didst call
me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had
called the child.
8. Therefore ELI said unto Samuel, Go,
lie down; and it shall be, If He call thee.
thai thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for Thy
servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay
down in his place.
10. And the Lord came, ard stood, and
called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel.
Then Samuel answered. Speak; for tiny
servant heareth.
IL. And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold.
L VIII do a thing in Israel, at which both
the ears of every one that heareth it shall
Jingle.
II. In that day l will perform against
Eli all things WHICH l have spoken cor"
corning his house; when l begin, l will alSo
make an end.
l3. For l have told him that l will Judge
his house forever for the iniquity which ne
knoweth; because his sons made them
selves vile, and he restrained them not.
ID. And therefore l have sworn unto the
house OF Ell. that the iniquity OF ELS house
snail not be purged with sacrifice nor offer
ing for ever.
GOLDEN TEXT.-Speak, Lord, fc1
Thy servant heareth.-1 Sam. 30.
OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURE SECTION.
Hannahs prayer..................l Sam. J..
f~iannahs electromagnetic Sam. 2:1-D.
samuel In the ~tabernacle....1 Sam. 2:l2-26.
Ihe call of Samuel. ............1 Sam. 3:1-2I.
c. III and 1l65.
PLACE-Shiloh and Ramah.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
The Lords call came to Samuel
when he was a mere lad, because he
wished to use him then and still
more fully when he should become a
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-
hvered Israel from the Philistines;
brought it back to the worship Of
Jehovah; judged the nation worthily;
prepared the way for the monarchy;
instituted a school for prophets, etc.
His whole life shows the value of
a 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 the
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 1 tells of the grief of
Hannah, because God had given her
no children. Her husbands other
wife-for in those days men often
had several wives-had children, and
she tainted Hannah in a very I'M
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
Der, she was too sad to eat, and.
after the sacrificial feast was over,
she remained behind "in bitterness
of soul, and prayed unto Jehovah,
and wept sore" And she promised
in her heart that if Jehovah should
answer her prayer she would bring
the child up as a Nazarite and dedi-
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
hpr. tSG0 in noonn onl @ho Cd 30
Israel grant thy petition"
The next year when the family
went up to Shiloh, Hannah remained
home to 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 to
be only remotely connected with the
"Its theme is the humili-
alton of the lofty and the exaltation
of the lowly, which is developed with
special reference to Hannah's CIR
Observation-Disclosures. The reference
to Jehovah's king leads many to
think that it was composed during
the kingdom which had not been
established in Hannah's time.
Now that the tabernacle was To-
Gated permanently at Shiloh, addi-
tons of wood were built on around
for the use of priests. 1t was here
that Eli and Samuel lived.
"The word of Jehovah was pre-
Better, was rare. mo fire.
quent vision" The prophets, as a
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
boy, and yet the truth of God
came to him directly as it did not
to the venerable high priest
himself. His 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
children.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.
If there were more mothers like
Hannah there would be more boys
like Samuel.
The child that is dedicated to God
even before his birth will be likely
to serve God early in life.
The child that is given to the Lord
will not be likely ever to,be an Attic
ton to his parents.
The child that is upright and obedi-
snt viii grow in favor both with God