370
T H E
K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S .
Juae 1924
gave a message to Israel (10:18, 19 ). He took the lo t and Saul was chosen. The chapter opens w ith a pitiful picture of a portion' of Israel in subjection to the Ammonities. Ammon was the son of one of Lot’s daughters (Gen. 19:37-38). They were th e b itter foes of Israel (Deut. 23:3, 4). Je p th ath had defeated them . Now they had recovered and made a cov enant w ith th e inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead to serve them (Judges 2 1 :8 ). Nahash, th e captain of Ammon, refused to accept th e covenant, save on a cruel condition. He would pu t out th e rig h t eye of every man, making them unfit for m ilitary service. This would have been an awful reproach (Deut. 29:12-18). W hat a hum iliating condition for Israel! The news came to Saul through the lam entations of the people. He was on his farm , waiting for God’s signal. This was the message of God to him. The Spirit of God came upon him and gave him courage, wisdom, force. Saul’s promptness and fearlessness caused th e fear of the Lord to come upon Israel (v. 7) and they rallied an army of 330,000. God gave them a g reat victory as He always does when we fulfil His conditions. (b) The Impulse of a G reat H eart, vs. 12, 13, “There shall not a man be put to death th is day” v. 13. The effect of th e victory upon the people was to make them willing to receive Saul as King (Psa. 2 1 :8 ). This was a test of Saul and he showed g reat wisdom and grace in giving God the glory (1 Cor. 15:10; John 12 :26 ). (c) The Induction of Saul into Office, vs. 14, 15. At Gilgal they made Saul king and sacrificed unto the Lord, w ith g reat rejoicing. There are conflicting emotions here, for God could not be pleased w ith Isra el’s rejoicing (1 Sam. 8:19; Acts 13:21. Israel would y et reg ret ask ing for a king (1 Sam. 8:13-18) and God finally removed Saul (Hosea, 13:10, 11). God’s h ea rt is bleeding today over th e rejection of His Son, b u t one good, glad day, His h eart will rejoice over His coronation. Topics fo r Study (1) Why were the Ammonites th e h itter foes of Israel? (2) Was God pleased w ith th e rejoicing of th e people over the renewal of the kingdom? (3) Why did Israel desire a king? (4) Why did God give them a king? (5 ) Is th ere an anger which is consistent w ith righteous ness? (Mark 3 :5 ; Eph. 4 :2 6 ). ( 6 ) Will God-inspir.ed enthusiasm be followed by prompt action? (7) W hat is the best equipment for service for God? Chap. 8:5 Their government was a theocracy; the Lord was th eir King. To exhibit and confirm the g reat tru th of monotheism was th e chief end of all th e ir institutions. To guard this, they were isolated from th e rest of th e world in the Holy Land; to teach this, they had COMMENTS only one appointed place of general FKOM THE worship; they were made to feel th eir COMMENTARIES en tire dependence upon God; Jehovah V. V. Morgan punished th e ir' transgressions; Jehovah led them to deliverance. The one, un seen God was th e ir only head and leader. To. th is idea they could not rise; it was too sublime for th eir grovelling m inds to grasp; it needed stronger faith th an they were capable of exercising.^—Deane. 8:19 The one nation is asking for a king “ like all the nations.” This is th e ir sin. God w anted them unlike the
other nations, they desired to be like the other nations. I t’s the same old weakness of im itation (8 :5 ). It was sorrow to Samuel’s h ea rt bu t God com forted him (vs. 6 , 7), — but what an indictm ent— “They have rejected Me” (vs! 7, 8 ). The p ro test of Samuel was to no purpose (vs. 9-19 — “Make us a k in g !” “We will have a k in g !” (vs. 4, 20). The Lord had gone before them to fight th eir b attles— but now they must have a king to go before them . See Hos. 13:10, 11. A brief for all th is period of history will be found in Acts 13:20, 21.—Tucker. “The Hebrew monarchy began w ith the choosing of Saul and ended w ith th e choosing of Caesar.”— Comp. Bible. Israel laggejl behind God a t Kadesh-barnea. It ran be fore Him in demanding a king. Let us no t too h astily con demn them , hu t ra th e r th in k how we have done both in our own experience, and resolve henceforth to w ait upon God to lead in every event in our lives.—Banks. A human king for Israel seems to have been in God’s plan and purpose for th e nation (Gen. 17:6, 16; 35: 11). It was necessary to establish the royal line from which should issue th e Messiah predicted in the prophecies— th e great Prince of Peace whom Isaiah foresaw.—Time is never ripe un til it is God’s time.— Banks. Their sin consisted in no t waiting patiently for God’s time, when He m ight th ink fit to give them a king.-—Horn. Com. F rom the beginning of chapter 9 to 10:17 is a parenthesis to show how God was revealing His plans for Saul to Sam uel, and how His providences were working out. The n ar rative ending w ith ch ap ter 8 is now resumed. The “ Con gregation of Isra el” m ust now confirm the selection th a t Jehovah’s perm issive w ill, has granted. How fo rtunate a nation whose law-making problems were solved by having only to accept the revealed plans of God. This national assembly consisted of Israelites of over 20 years old (Num. 1 :3 ).—Banks. 10:6-9 I t is not necessary to suppose it meant his regen eration, th ere is a question as to whether Saul ever was regenerated, for, his life-story would not lead us to believe he was. The Spirit of th e Lord coming on a man is one thing, and th e Spirit of th e Lord coming into a man is an other. He comes on a man for service. He comes in him for salvation.—Gray. The expressions used describe, not a new h ea rt in th e New Testam ent sense, b u t “ a change in m ental power and en ergy ;” a capacity for ru ling and leading th e people of which before he was d estitu te.” He had been brought up on a farm and was unacquainted with statesm anship. The qualities he needed for his new and untried position were imparted to him .—Peloubet. 10:18-25 Having u ttered th is solemn w arning, he per ceived th a t fu rth e r expostulation was useless, and proceeded to a confirmation, by a God-directed lot, of the secret choice God had already made. Why did Samuel draw lots when Saul had already been selected? P lainly in order th a t the people m ight thu s have a visible token th a t th e choice of this obscure youth was from God.®-Peloubet. If Saul had always retained th e hum ility displayed in vs. 2 1 , a sad tale of disaster which came in his la tte r days would not have been told (vs. 21 ).—Tucker. 11:6 This tim e the Spirit of God came upon him as upon the Judges before him, as a Spirit of sup ern atu ral energy and power (compare Judges 3 :10 ; 5 :34 ; ,11 :2 9 ).—Bib. Diet. 11:11-13 The powerful impression made by Saul’s ap pearance and message laid hold of the whole nation and brought them into unity. It was fitting th a t Saul should publicly recognize th e hand of God in his first victory and th a t he should refuse to m ar th e joy of victory by personal retaliation .—Arnold. 12:23 In th is he rem inds us of our Lord “who continued all n igh t in p ray er” (L uk e 6 :1 2 ). Is such an experience as th a t u tterly unknown to us as intercessors for a lost husband, wife, child, friend, for a congregation, Sunday School class, church society, a backslidden church, a lost world?—Banks.
ELEMENTARY K ate H. H aas
When Samuel grew old, he made his sons judges, but they were not good like th e ir fath er, so Israel grew dis satisfied, and came to Samuel, asking for a king. Samuel
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