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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
| I n t e r n a t i o n a l Se r i es of Sunday School Le s sons j EXPOSITION OF THE LESSON, ~ Frederic W. Farr DEVOTIONAL COMMENT, - - John A. Hubbard COMMENTS FROM THE COMMENTARIES, V. V. Morgan ELEMENTARY, - - - - ~ Mabel L. Merrill
MARCH 9, 1924 THE REIGN OF SAUL Golden Text: “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.” 1 Sam. 15:22. Lesson Text: 1 Sam. 15:13-23. Read 1 Sam. Chs. 8-15. The reign of Saul was the outgrowth of certain condi tions in Israel and the consequence of certain acts of Is rael. The failure of the priesthood led to the setting up of a prophet in the place of a priest and the failure of the prophet led to the choice of a king after LESSON the people’s own heart. The failure of EXPOSITION both Israel and the king gives God the F. W. Farr chance to act in grace and give them a king after His own heart and a better kingdom. The priests stand before God and may represent his peo ple in communion. The failure of the priests might there fore typify the failure of the church in communion with God. The priests’ failure is seen in their misuse of the holy things of the sanctuary, regarding the sacrifice as something for their own personal convenience (1 Sam. 2:12-17). Let us take heed that we regard not God’s sacri fice as solely to satisfy us, forgetting His part in it. When God called Samuel to reveal to him the people’s sin, the aged -Eli sent him back to sleep again (1 Sam. 3:5-6). The Spirit may be quenched in any age by send ing back to sleep by those in authority those whom God wakes up. After D. L. Moody was converted a church of ficial asked him not to speak in meeting, his language was . so broken and ungrammatical. The failure of the prophets is seen in the fact of one called of God appointing his sons to office irrespective of God’s call and their own qualifications (1 Sam. 8:1). The sons of Samuel were unfaithful judges (1 Sam. 8:3). This led to asking for a king. Failure in communion leads to teaching being introduced in its place. Failure in teach ing leads to the setting up of man’s rule. Israel not only asked for a king,—they described the kind of a king they wanted (1 Sam. 8 : 6 , 20). They asked for a gift of God rather than God Himself and God gave them exactly what they asked for. Throughout Saul’s ad ministration the gifts of God were made use of as though God Himself were absent. God told them in advance what having a king would mean—first, the rejection of God Him self as their king; second, bringing all Israel into bondage. All this came to. pass (1 Sam. 8:7, 11-17). Saul’s moral unfitness is repeatedly brought' out by his actions. When directed by the people of God to wait for a message from God, he cannot trust God enough to wait the appointed time. He must act himself for Israel (1 Sam. 13:8-13). The result was, that at the close of his reign when he would inquire of God, he got no answer (1 Sam. 28:7). As far as he was concerned there was no God in Israel. Thus Saul, the king after man’s heart, becomes a type of Anti-Christ. “Anti” may mean not only one who
is against Christ, but one who is in the place of Christ. The Pope of Rome, for example, has never outwardly at least been against Christ, but he calls himself the vicar of Christ. “Vic” in Latin corresponds to “anti” in Greek. Vicarial rule always means apostasy. When Moses went up into the Mount, Israel cried, “Give us gods to go before us.” When man gets out of communion with God, he de mands something material and visible for a substitute. The secret of the present apostasy is the displacing of the Holy Spirit from His rightful position in the church and sub stituting human methods and machinery. It is so much easier to get the sense of a meeting than the mind of the Spirit. Saul lost his kingdom through disobedience, by acting contrary to God’s command. God said that Amalek was to be smitten and utterly destroyed. Nevertheless the king of Amalek and the best of the spoil are spared. Saul’s apology was that, they were spared for sacrifice unto the Lord (1 Sam. 15:2-3). His explanation does not justify his disobedience nor satisfy God (1 Sam. 15:22, 23). Sacrifice is sacrilege apart from obedience. Ceremonial forms are worthless. Obedience is the test of love. Saul adds the sin of hypocrisy to his disobedience. The use of a religious pretext makes a bad matter worse. Saul’s re ply to Samuel was contradicted by the testimony of inno cence. “What means this bleating of the sheep and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” Something like this al ways happens to give .the self-defense of the transgressor the lie. After Saul had been anointed by Samuel, it is said that God gave him another heart and that the Spirit of God came upon him (1 Sam. 10:9, 10). This could not have been a new heart of regenerating grace with its moral transformations. It must have been rather an exaltation of mind through the contagion of prophetic ecstasy that fitted him for civil but not for spiritual leadership. No marks of the spiritual man are seen in the career of Saul. He allowed the Ark of the Covenant to remain in oblivion at Kirjath-jearim. He yielded to the demon of jealousy against David, although David was ever loyal and true. He murdered the priests in the insanity of suspicion. He be came the slave of his own caprice and eowardice until God turned against him and forsook him. His life closed like a lurid angry sunset and under the shadow of witchcraft he went down to suicide and destruction. Introduction. Samuel grieved greatly over Jehovah’s rejection of Saul, he'spent the whole night in tears and prayer (vs. 1 1 ), but he rose early to perform the duty that God had put upon him, unwelcome as it was. He will COMMENTS deliver God’s message and deliver it at FROM THF at once- Saul’s commission was to de- n o M M R ’iwT* a T t n r i str°y the Amalekites utterly. The v v MnrB„n Amalekites were a type of the flesh, and ' ’ g God will have no mercy on the flesh. It must be put to death, the death of the cross (Gal. 6:24; cf. 3:13). Many professed Christians deal with the flesh
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