The Pleasantville press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1912-1929, 1915-04-03
by the Lord.

WV AAS
of Saul's rejection Slaughter Of the
by the Lord. Ama'eN''e'.
Although the Lord, through the
Prophet Samuel, announced King
Saul's rejection, the prediction was eyi.
IDENTIFY not fulfilled for several years
afterward. Quite possibly the king
was properly exercised by his rejec.
ton and became more attentive to the
Divine will; and David, who was prob.
ably anointed about this time, was not
yet sufficiently developed to be the
Lords representative in Saul's stead.
King Saul's next severe trial was In
connection with the A~malekites, a
fierce nomadic people who had on sew.
eral occasions done injury to Israel.
In sending the message to the king,
the Lord gave special instructions that
the Amalekites should be utterly de.
stroyed. He also specified that the de-
struction was on account of Amalek's
opposition to Israel In the way when
the Israelites came out of Egypt, sew.
eral centuries before.
Was Their Condemnation Just7
This narrative is seized upon by
skeptics to prove that If God should
thus command the wholesale slaughter
of human creatures and dumb animals.
He must be lacking In justice, pity,
sympathy and love. There is but one
answer to this matter, and it should
be satisfactory to all who understand
1t. 1t is this:
The slaughter of the Amalekites did
not mean, as usually inferred, that they
went forthwith to eternal torture. To
them, death had the same meaning that
it had to their cattle-a termination of
whatever was desirable in the present
life. Slaughtered by the sword, the
Amalekites suffered far less than II
they had died of hunger or disease.
All went down to the great prison-house
Of death-Sheol. Hades, the tomb.
God had already arranged a great
redemption. not only for the Amale-
kites, but for all mankind. That re-
demption, secured by the great sacrifice
Of Christ centuries after their death,
will by and by secure to them release
from their imprisonment-an awaken
ing from the death sleep. They will be
amongst those mentioned by our Lord,
saying, "All that are in their graves
shall hear the voice of the Son of God
and shall come forth" They will come
forth under much more favorable con-
ditions, TO learn of Divine grace in
Christ and to be amongst the families
of the earth to be blessed by the Seed
of administration Israel.
King sauPs Wilful Disobedience.
In this trial King Saul's error was
his failure to carry out the Lords COM
mands explicitly. He slew all the
Amalekites except the king, whom he
kept alive. possibly thinking to exhibit
him in a triumphal display. AS for the
fiockS and herds, he consented with his
people to spare all that were good and
desirable. AT this juncture the Prophet
Samuel arrived, and the eolloquy of
our lesson ensued.
The Prophets Indignation and the
Lords positive statement clearly indi.
cate that King Saul had not misunder-
stood his instructions. but had deliber-
ately violated them. Consequently his
words to the Prophet must have been
to a great extent hypocritieal. The
Prophet stopped the King in his ex.
PLANTATION, and told him In the Lords
words of the night preceding-in jew.
ish reckoning this night" because
their day begins in the evening.
King Saul sought to defend his
course and to lay the responsibility
upon the hosts of Israel. The Proph.
cts answer is the pith of today's