The Holly chieftain., 1924-02-28
nPROYED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
Sue9daySchool q
' Lesson '
OBJ REV. p. B. FITzwATER. DID,.
Dean of the Evening School. Moody
Bible Institute OF ChlcagoD
90, 1874 Western Newspaper Union)
Lesson for March 2
THE REVIVAL UNDER SAMUEL

| i"G HGVISNL ONUEH SAMOEl
| LESSON TEXT Sam. l:7.
GOLDEN TEXT-Prepare your hearts
| unto the Lord and serve Him only
| Sam. 7:3
| PRIMARY TOPIc-God Calls the Boy
| Samuel.
| JUNIOR ToPIC-The Victory at Ebe-
nezer.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOP
| tC-How Samuel Served His Nation.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOP.
lC-The Revival Under Samuel
Gross immortality and even anarchy
prevailed during the close of the period
Of the Judges. as we see recorded In
the last chapters of Judges. Through
the ministry of the Inst judge, Samuel,
brighter day dawned upon Israel.
!. Features Of Israeps History In
This Period.
/. A Demorallzed Priesthood.
Q The priests were actuated bv
greed q Sam. 2:12-17. 1t was Gods
will that those who minlstered at the
altar should live OF the things of the
altar, but they broke through the d.
vine revelations touching this matter
and were securing their selfish ends by
force.
| (2) The priests polluted the courts OF
| Gods house with the grossest immor-
ality q Sam. 2:22). We thus see that
the condition of the nation was most
appalling. When Gods ministers are
actuated by greed and practice unclean-
ness, degradation and ruin rapidly fol-
low.
,. An Alienated People. The only
thing which separates people from God
is sin. The people who choose sin shall
be thus separated from Goa.
B. A Cessation OF Divine Revelation
| u Sam. 3 ~. God was silent ("The
word of God was precious in those
days, there was no open vision'D. The
message from the Lord was matter of
memory.
II. God Calls Samuel U Sam. 8 :2-1O.
| Samuel's name means, asked of
| Cod He was given to Hannah in an
swer to prayer. In asking God for this
son she vowed to dedicate him to the
Lord. Accordingly at an early age she
took him to the sanctuary and gave
him over to the charge Of Ell. Thus
In his tender years he ministered to
the Lord. The beautiful life of Samuel
was In striking contrast to the degra-
dation Of the nation.
| III. SamuePs First Prophetic Mes
sage q Sam. 3:11-1S).
| Up to this time Samuel obeyed the
one who was over him. but the time
had now come when he must directly
hear and obey the Lord The first mes
sage intrusted to him is a most terrible
one. He hesltated to tell it to Ell, but,
when pressed by him, he manifested
the true courage which was lying back
of his fear. He announced fearful
visitation upon ELS house because of
the sins Of his sons.
~. Samuel Established In the Pro.
phetic Office q Sam. 3:19-2D.
And Samuel grew, and the Lord
was with him, and did let none of his
words fall TO the ground, and all Israel
| from Dan even unto Beer sheba knew
that Samuel was established to be a
| prophet of the Lord"
| V. Victory Of Samuel Il Sam. I'll
14.
| l. Samuel Calls Israel to Repentance
wv. Id. Some twenty years have
now elapsed since Israel was humili-
ated by the Philistines. He asks the
people to turn to the Lord with all
their hearts. the proof of which would
be:
G To put away their own licentious
| worship. This was really gross licen-
tiousness under the guise of religion.
(2) To direct their hearts unto the
| Lord and serve Him only.
2. Israel Assembled at Mspeh wv.
5, 81. The purpose of this assembly
was the confession of their sins. They
| poured water before the Lord, thus
| symboliZing their need of cleansing and
| The pouring out of their hearts in peni-
tence before the Lord. They tasted
and publicly confessed their sins.
B. The Phlistines Attack Israel (v.
| y. The assembly Of Israel at Mizpeh
| alarmed the Philstincs. They inter.
preted the gathering as preparation
to attack them. so they decided to at
tack first.
4. The Intercession of Samuel wv.
8, 81. Samuel accompanied his inter-
cession with n burnt offering, showing
that he looked for acceptance in the
sacrifice of another even Christ.
5. The Victory Over the Phillstines
wv. 10, 1D. This was the result of
Gods interposition. "The Lord thun-
dered with great thunder that day
and discounted them"
G. a Memorial Set Up wv. 12-14).
Samuel set UP n stone between MiZpeh
md Shnn and chilled IL Ehnnnynr