“ Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us” (1 Sam. 8:19). Samuel spoke to them again and said, “And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes, and by your thousands” (1 Sam. 10:19). All of this disobedience resulted in great sorrow, as it does today when God’s people choose to be like the world.
August 3, 1952 A T alking R ock
August 10, 1952 T he C ost of a K ing
Object: A rock. (Use a crayon and write “ 1 Sam. 7:12” on it. Bring it to class in a paper sack.) Lesson: You will be surprised when you see what is in this sack. “ It is just an ordinary rock,” I hear someone say. Yes, it is an ordinary rock, but I brought it with me to remind us of a very important Rock mentioned in the Bible. There is a Bible reference printed on the side of this rock. It is First Sam uel 7:12. Let us turn to this verse in our Bibles and read it. “ Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.”
Object: A crown made of gilt paper. (Use a piece of paper 11x5 inches. Fold each end the long way to within % inch of the middle, which will leave a gap of % inch. In this gap, print the word “ KING.” Open the flaps and, using the letters in the word “ KING,” complete the following words, “ TAKE, LIBER TIES, CHILDREN, BELONGINGS.” Curve the bottom slightly, and cut points in the top to make the paper look like a crown.) Lesson: Kings and crowns are asso ciated with each other. In looking at this crown, you will notice the word “KING” printed down the middle of it. As we look at this crown, we are re minded of the time when the elders of Israel came to Samuel and said, “ Make us a king to judge us like all the na tions” (1 Sam. 8:5). We are told that this request dis pleased Samuel, who was a faithful judge over Israel. He was a wise man and he made it a matter of prayer. Here is God’s answer to Samuel’s prayer. “ And the Lord said unto Sam uel, Hearken unto the voice of the peo ple in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them . . . yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them” (1 Sam. 8:7). When we open the crown, we shall see some of the things which Samuel told the children of Israel. We read, “ TAKE LIBERTIES, CHILDREN, BE LONGINGS.” They were not to have the freedom they had known under the judges. Their children would be made servants of the king, and a part of their belongings taken to supply the needs of the king’s household.
August 17, 1952 S aul ' s S in and S orrow
Objects: A quart milk bottle, a can dle, a shallow pan, a piece of tire tube large enough to cover the mouth of the quart bottle, and about a pint of water colored with ink. (Melt some of the can dle and stick the base of the candle to the rubber.)
Lesson: We will let this clean bottle remind us of Saul at the beginning of his life as king of Israel. There were many nice things about him when he was appointed king. He was tall and good looking. A very commendable char acteristic was that he was humble. He had a wonderful start in letting his light shine for God. He was living in a world where sin surrounded him. (Pour the pan nearly full of water, and place the candle in the middle of the pan.) We will put this bottle, representing Saul, over the candle, and see what happens. (Press the bottle firmly on the rubber.) The light is going out, just as Saul’s light for God went out. , Watch carefully and see what hap pens when his light has completely gone out. (With the finger, break the seal and the vacuum caused by the burning candle will suck the black water into the bottle.) See, the black rushes into the bottle. It was so in the life of Saul—his light for God went out, and soon his life was filled with jealousy and hatred. On one occasion, David had returned from a battle with the Philistines. We read, “ And the women answered one another as they played,.and said, Saul hath slain Page Thirty-seven
For many years, because of sin, the ark of the Lord had been out of Israel’s possession. Samuel called on the people to repent of their sins, and when they did, God gave them a great victory over their enemies, the Philistines. After the victory, in order that Israel might never forget the •help God had been to them, Samuel set up the Ebenezer stone, which meant, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.” We wonder if the stone might not have been a reminder to the enemy, as well as to Israel, for we read, “ So the Philis tines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel: and the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel” (1 Sam. 7:13). There are many times in the lives of Christians similar to the experience about which we have been thinking. When Christians in an hour of need forsake their sins, and call upon God, He gives them deliverance, and they can say with Samuel, “Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.”
JULY, 1952
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