The Tupelo journal., 1903-09-04
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson I'm the international Series for
September q, 1003-Deafh of
Saul and Jonathan.
THE LESSON TEXT.
IT Sam 91.1-12l

Now the Philistines fought against Is
rael: and the men of Israel fed from be-
fore the Philistines. and fell down slain In
Mount Gilboa.
And the Philistines followed hard upon
Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines
slew Jonathan, and Abinadab. and Mel
chishua, SauPs sons.
3 And the battle went sore against Saul
and the archers hit him: and he was sore
wounded of the archers.
Then said Saul unto his armo.bearer
Draw thy sword and thrust me through
Herewith; lest these uncircumcsed come
and thrust me through, and abuse me. But
his armorbearer would not: Tor he was
sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword,
and fell upon it,
And when his armorbearer saw that
Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his
sword, and died with him.
So Saul died, and his three sons, and his
armorbearer. and all his men, that same
day together.
And when the men of Israel that were
on the other side of the valley, and they
that were on the other side OF Jordan, saw
that the men of Israel fed. and that Saul
and his sons were dead. they forsook the
cities, and fed and the Philistines came
and dwelt in them.
And 1t came to pass on the morrow.
when the Philistines came to strip the
Iiain, that they found Saul and his three
And they cut off his head and stripped
off his armor, and sent into the land Of
the PEi!istines round about, to publish it
in the house of their idols, and among the
people
10 And they put his armor in the house
of Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body
to the wall of Bethshan.
II And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-
Gilead heard of that which the Philstines
had done TO Saul,
IL All the valiant men arose, and went all
night, and took the body OF Saul and the
bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth
shan. and came to Jabesh, and burnt them
there.
Is And they took their bones, and buried
them under a tree at Jabesh, and tasted
seven days.
GOLDEN TEXT. There is way
which seemeth right unto "a man, but
the end thereof are the ways of death.
PROV. 14:12.
OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURE SECTION.
David an exile. .................1 Sam. 27:1-l2
Sauls vision of Samuel........1 Sam. Sis
Achish's trust in David. .......l Sam gill
Death of Saul and his sons...I Sam. Bills
Saurs body and armor........1 Sam. 3l:7-l0
The bodies rescued. .........1 Sam. 3l:ll-l3
TIME-About 1000 B. c.
PLACE-Gath, EAdor Aphek, southern
Judah, Mount Gilboe, Betk-shan and ia
besh- Gilead.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
After David had spared Sauls life,
as described in our last lesson. and
had thereby regained his favor, we
should have expected that the hunted
outlaw would have returned to his
home. But no; David knew Saul too
we'll He dared not trust him. In de-
spair he gave UP the hope of living in
peace in his native land and went to
live among the Philistines until Saul
should die. 1t seems very unpatriotic
course; but he was probably forced
to it.
All went well until the Philistines
wages war upon Israel. Then Achish re-
quired David's help, and he would have
been forced to fight on the side of his
country's enemies had not the Philis-
tine leaders feared his treachery and
sent him away before the battle. Re
turning to Ziklag, he found the city in
ruins and the women and children cap
tured by the Amalekites, whom he pur-
sued and conquered, returning laden
with spoil.
Weakened by constant assertions
from his army, Saul is in no condition
to meet the strong Philistine host that
invades the land from the northwest.
He is panic-stricken at their approach
In desperation he consults the witch of
Endor" to divine the probable result
of the coming conflict, and if possible
obtain message from the dead Samuel
The narrative is one of the strangest
in the Bible. DR.. Aglen, one of the best
interpreters of the Old Testament, says:
1T is hopeless to try to understand this
incident. Magic is at home in the east,
and ventriloquism, which the language
Implies to have been the practice of this
woman, may have had it's part All
that we know is, Saul thought he saw
and heard Samuel, and the figure he saw
and heard told him the worst"
Therefore Saul went into battle that
day expecting defeat. The men of Is
rael fed" The battle was probably
fought in the Plain of Jezreel, the Is
raelites being forced back on their
camp on the slope of Mt Gilboa. Max
ing their final stand here, like wild
beasts at bay, they were slain in great
numbers. THE battle went sore
against Saul" A pitiable scene
Saul's three valiant sons slain defend
ing him; himself wounded and hard
pressed by the Philistine archers. seek
ing death as a favor at the hand OF
his armorbearer rather than fall into
the hands of his heather foes, and final
ly committing suicide-a miserable
ending of most disappointing career.
After the barbarous custom of the
ancients, Sauls decapitated body was
exposed, with those of his sons, on the
city wall as humiliating disgrace,
doubtless, also, as warning to other
foes of the conQuerors.
A remarkable instance of the per-
manence of true gratitude is this ac-
count of the acts of the men of Jabesh-
Gilead. In the very beginning of his
reign Saul had befriended them and had
rescued their city; now, after his death.
they, out of all Israel, are the ones who
dare befriend him.
Terse Sayings.
He who wills our being wills our well.