THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S 483 and girls, have you ever thought haw brother or sister, and always run as you ccftild serve the Lord with gladness soon as mother speaks your name. (Em- by helping mother take care of baby phasize helpful spirit in the home.) '
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MAY 9, 1920 ELI AND HIS SONS Golden Text: “ The wages of sin is death; hut the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord/’ Rom. 6:23. LESSON TEXT 1 Sam. 4:5-18. (Read 1 Sam. 2:12-17; 4:1-18; Prov. 4:10-27.)
the army, and came to Shiloh the same day with his clothes rent, and with earth upon his head. (13 And when he came, lo, Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watch ing: for his heart trembled for the ark of God. And when the man came into the city, and told it, all the city cried out. (14) And when Eli heard the noise of the crying, he said, What meaneth the noise of this tumult ? And the man came in hastily, and told Eli., (15) Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that ’ h e; could not see. (16) And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son ? (17) And the mes senger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phine has, are dead; and the ark of God is taken. (18) And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by-.the side of the gate, and his neck brake,,and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years. They were God's representatives, but were of reprobate mind. Notice in verses 22-25 how Eli reproved them for their sins, but did not remove them. He warned them but his words were wasted on them. They heard his words, but hearkened not unto them. They were steeped in sin, and God had deter mined upon slaying them. In verses 27, 36, we have a man of God coming to God’s man, with a warn ing, a voice from God, painting a pic ture of the perils awaiting his house; a prophecy of the unchanging law of the wages of sin, and of sowing and reap ing; but there was no repenting, no reformation of the character or conduct of his sons, and in our lesson today we find the prophecy punctiliously fulfilled,
(5) And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Is rael shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. (6) And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, What meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebriews ? And they understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the#camp. (7) And the' Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, Woe unto us! for there has not been such a thing heretofore. (8) Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty Gods? these are the Gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. (9) Be strong, and quit yourselves like men, O ye Philistines, that ye be not servants 1unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you: quit yourselves like men, and fight. (10) And the Philistines fought, and' Is- rael was smitten, and they fled everv man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter: and there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. (11) And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain. (12) And there ran a man of Benjamin out of Introduction. In order that you and your class may have the proper setting for this lesson, a careful reading of Ch. 2:12-17 is necessary. There you have a picture of Eli’s sons, and their LESSON u n h o l y conduct; EXPOSITION worthless fellows T. C. Horton who had no heart knowledge of God; having a form of godliness, but deny ing the power thereof; instructed.in the law, but lawless; officiating as priests, but offensive to God through vile prac tices. They were greedy grafters. They had the livery of heaven, but lived licentious lives. Theirs were not isolated sins, but insolent sins, often re peated.
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