Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-06-03
SABBATH SCHOOL
LESSON
For June 6-1 Sam Is
By DIR. MARION MyH. HULL

thee" l Sam. 1925.
Must l fail as Saul did, or is there way
for me to WINS Must you incur the displeas
ure of God and be rejected, or may you
please God and be acceptable to Him? Let's
see.
1t was when Saul had been reigning quite
a time that God gave him a commission
| 1t was a special piece of work He wanted
done, and very important. Amalek had been
a menace to ell the peoples about him for
| generations. When Israel had come out of
| Egypt, the AmaliStes had tried to block
| them. Since that time they had lived a
nomad life and supported themselves by
murauding and pillaging. A people living
corporate existence, and each generation fol-
| lowing the sin of the preceding one, would
expect nothing less than punishment for
| what their forefather had done and which
| they were continuing to do. The Amalikites
| had had abundant evidence to see and know
the good hand of God and to turn from
| their evil ways to Him; but they had so
persistently rejected Him that He was forced
| to remove them, that they could no
| longer be c menace to His people and others
! about them.
| Accordingly God determined upon their
| complete destruction as the only fitting
punishment for their persistent shining, and
| as the only way of safety for their neigh
| bors. Saul was given this commission, and
| explicitly told that they were to be utterly
| DESTROYED, man and woman, infant and suck
| ling, OK and ass, sheep and cattle-not one
| living thing to be left that had ever had
| the touch of Amalek. They were too cor
| rupt to be spared, and God had determined
| that this to be an object lesson to the
| other nations. This not to be anything
like the promiscuous pillaging Of the Or
| binary. victory when every man looked out
for himself and got the best he could; this
was to be different-everything was to be
| devoted to God, and, as such, destroyed, as
| not pleasing Him in any way.
SauPs Failure
| Saul recognized this and the reason for
| it. He remembered having heard how the
Kenites had shown kindness to Israel, and
so he allowed them to get out OF the way
| lie fought valiantly and won, driving the
hordes of these desert marauders into the
| wilderness and on the way to Egypt But
| wien they were in his hands. his cupldity
aid pride got the best of him. He got
! Agac, the king, alive, and spared his life
| that he might hear the shouts of the people
as they praised him for delivering them from
! this robber chief. 1t vast pride that prompt
ed him to spare Agag instead of killing him.
Then he and the people took the best of
| everything and destroyed that which was not
worth keeping. In other words, they were
|
worth keeping for themselves! But where
was Jonathan when all this was going on
! Could it he that Jonathan was q PARTY to all
this? Saul had shown lack of appreciA-
| ton of the presence and personality of God
| but Jonathan had shown himself keenly
sensitive to il. We hear protest from
him; we do not see him leaving. Did he
share in the spoil? Did he lose the crown
| just here?
samueps Distress and Displeasure
Gcd told Samuel OF sanl's failure: He
had shown himself unfit for the office of
king. Whose could not learn to obey i'm
plicitly and Immediately thereby showed
himself unfit to give orders to others God
was done with Saul; He would put up with
him no more.
The effect on Samuel was distressing.
He was cut to the heart: Hc cried unto
God all night. lie pleaded with God to
change His mind, to give Saul another
tractive personality. He loved Jonathan;
he saw how the rejection of Saul would
work against him. He pleaded on Jona-
thans account. But Jonathan had been
party to the crime. 1t took God all night
| to convince SamdeI that neither Saul nor
Jonathan was fit for the Kingship. Sam
uefs grief was satisfied; he arose with iron
in his blood and steel rod in his spinal
column. File went out to meet Saul at Car
mel, but met him at Gilgal Hear Saul as
he greets him: BLESSED be thou of the
| Lord. ! have performed the commandment
Of the Lord. Was this hypocrisy or spiri-
tual blindness? Hear the stern voice Of
Samuel: What meaneth then this bleating
of the sheep, etc? C'Be sure your sins
will find You out" and at the most incon-
venient time.)
''They," the people',-ah. You con
| temptible curt Was not it enough that you
were guilty of the sins of pride and greed!
Must you add to it the sim of Adam in at
tempting to shift your responsibility to nm
other? And then to attempt it second
time even, when with your own lips you
confess that it was done not in ignorance
but wilfully!
saul's Doom
| Then came the doom of Saul. He must
| learn that 'to obey is better than sacri-
flee and to hearkcn than the fat of rams
God doesn't want sacrifice unless that out
! inward reality. You don't want the box of
candy your boy has brought you when he
disobeyed you; you can't be bought that
cheaply--neither God. TO have one
listen to what He has to say, and do it,
is far more pleasing than any offering you
may ehe Rebellion nrc
harsh words. Yes, they are very plain
words. They shocked Saul; he probably
didn't realize that HE, the king, was re-
bellious or stubborn! What catalogue of
little thing to him; but look-prbie, greed
spiritual blindness, irresoluteness, blaming
others, rebellion, stubbornness. Was such
a man fit to be the king of Israel? No.
Note the last three words. God did not
reject Saul utterly, but only from being
|
and God set him aside. The spirit of God
had come upon Saul and had changed
him into another man. God had given
him another + heart art q Sa Hi9 1o90, $ fSg
| time the Spirit of Jehovah departed from
Saul and an evil spirit from Jehovah trou-
bled him. (ch 1919. God no longer
fought for him, and he never won another
battle. While holding the office of king
he was an usurper from that time on, for
David was the anonted king thenceforth;
| Go nj hiC trVin0 fhwnrf
Gods revealed will. You will not be lost,
disobey; but you will be set aside.
if God has given you eternal life. II you
Samuel did what God had failed to do.
God will have His way-if you will not do
it, He will set you aside and raise up
someone else to do it. See that stern Old
prophet! His sword raised; Agag hewed
in pieces; the widows and the orphans re-
venged; and God vindicated!
Away back before time began. Satan who
had been created for. the highest office in
! heaven, insisted on having his own way;
rebelled, and God set him aside. Adam
failed through disobedience-insisted on hav-
ing his own way instead Of Gods, and God
and struck the rock instead OF speaking to
it as God had commanded-and God set him
aside, raising up Joshua to take his place
and lead the people into Canaan. Saul fail
ed--through disobedience, and God set him
aside.
Jesus always pleased God; He obeyed Him
| implicitly and Immediately. Tempted as
never man had been tempted before, He
refused to disobey His Father-and wont
Remember that obedience which is not
absolute and implicit is disobedience. To
wilfully fail in the smallest particular is
rebellion. To do the least thing differently
from what God has directed you to do it
is stubbornness. These are expressions of
the self life, Of independence of God;
this was Satan's original sin, and is the
essence of every sin.
What shall be the record Of your life?
Will you insist on having your own way
| or will you let God have His way? VIII
you disobey as did Satan and Adam, and
Moses and Saul, and be set aside? Or will
you let Jesus Christ live His life over again
in YOU, and give rou victory?