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JAN 29 1917
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THE HEBREW MONARCHY
An MUtptttntlan of tijt £ngliat| Sibk
The Hebrew Monarchy
V/^ BY
B. H. CARROLL, D.D., LL.D.,
President of Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary
EDITED BY
J. B. CRANFILL, LL.D.
New York Chicago Toronto
Fleming H. Revell Company
London and Edinburgh
Copyright, 1916, by
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY
New York: 158 Fifth Avenue
Chicago: 125 N. Wabash Ave.
Toronto: 25 Richmond St., W.
London: 21 Paternoster Sq.
Edinburgh: 100 Princess St.
CHAPTER
I.
11.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XL
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.
XX.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Editor's Introduction v
Author's Introduction i
Early Life of Samuel 7
Fall of Eli and Rise of Samuel 21
The Schools of the Prophets 31
Samuel and the Monarchy 41
Saul the First King 50
Saul the First King (Continued) 60
The Passing of Saul and His Dynasty 68
Saul's Unpardonable Sin and Its
Penalty 79
David Chosen as Saul's Successor 91
The War Between Love and Hate 105
Saul's Murderous Pursuit of David 117
David and His Army 127
Ziklag, Endor and Gilboa 138
Historical Introduction to II Samuel
AND I Chronicles 151
David King of Judah — The War With
THE House of Saul 160
David Made King Over All Israel 168
The Wars of David 178
Three Dark Events in David's Career. 188
Bringing Up the Ark — A Central Place
of Worship 204
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
XXI. David's Kindness Towards Jonathan's
Son 215
XXII. Numbering the People — History of Ab-
salom 224
XXIII. The Death of Absalom — Preparation
FOR Solomon 232
XXIV. David as an Organizer 241
XXV. The Empire of Solomon 249
XXVI. Solomon's Accession and Dream 262
XXVII. Analysis of Solomon's Wisdom 274
XXVIII. The Works of Solomon 285
XXIX. Dedication of the Temple 295
XXX. Fall and End of Solomon 308
EDITOR^S INTRODUCTION
THE Hebrew Monarchy" is the eleventh volume of
"Carroll's Interpretation of the English Bible."
They have been published in the following order:
"Revelation," "Genesis," "Exodus-Leviticus," "Numbers to
Ruth," "The Pastoral Epistles," "Daniel and the Inter-
Biblical Period," "The Four Gospels," Volume I, "The Four
Gospels," Volume II, "The Acts," and "James, Thessa-
lonians, Corinthians."
The present volume concerns itself with the transition
period marking the change of the government of the
Hebrew nation from that of the judges to that of the kings.
Only three kings are considered — Saul, David and Solomon.
The book is of intense interest from its opening sentence
to its closing word. There is nothing known to me in the
catalogue of commentaries covering this period that is more
luminous or that holds a greater interest for the Bible stu-
dent than the present volume. Not only does Dr. Carroll
deal with the history, which in itself grips the reader with
an enduring charm, but as he progresses in the interpretation
of the history he brings to us lessons new and old out of the
Divine Word that cannot fail to edify, enlighten, and
strengthen every one who shall be so fortunate as to peruse
these pages.
In going over this manuscript and preparing it for publi-
cation I feel that I have been treading upon sacred ground.
It was revised by Dr. Carroll in his last illness while he lay
in bed, and the marks of his fast increasing infirmity of
body abound throughout the volume. His mind was keen
and incisive to the end, and never shone brighter than in hi$
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
labors on this discussion of the last of the judges, the first
of the prophets, and the first of the kings of the Hebrew
people.
In his interpretation of the Bible Dr. Carroll is at once
plain, simple and profound. His words are those that are
loved and used in the every-day speech of the multitude.
He has never sought to be technical or didactical. On the
contrary, by every means at his command (and he was a
master of English diction and composition), he has sought
to clarify the text of the English Bible and so interpret it
as to bring it within the radius of the comprehension of the
unlettered, while at the same time investing it with deep
interest for the scholar. In all the range of literature of its
class there is none that shows a more intimate understanding
of the popular mind and at the same time of God's Word
and its adaptation to the hearts of the common people than
"Carroll's Interpretation of the English Bible."
In his last illness Dr. Carroll was greatly concerned for
the proper presentation and exploitation of this and the
other volumes that compose this series. He realized that
his earthly labors had come to a close, and that the revision
of his future works must be performed by other hands. So
it has fallen out that Rev. J. W. Crowder and the writer of
this introduction have in hand the final shaping of this and
the other volumes that are to follow.
More and more as I have addressed myself anew to this
task have I been impressed with the strength and wisdom of
these words of Dr. Cunningham Geikie which appear in the
preface to the second volume of his "Hours with the Bible:"
"Life is so short and its responsibilities so great, that hon-
est diligence is alike a necessity and a duty." With this
motto thus borne in upon my heart I shall with re-doubled
energy, earnestness and zeal labor to perform the task that I
undertook while the great Dr. B. H. Carroll was in the flush
of perfect health, and which, because he has now gone home
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
to God, he will never be able personally to supervise or
complete.
In view of the wide-spread ignorance of the Word of
God I sincerely hope that this and the other books of this
series will find a large and increasing circulation. Their
reading and their study cannot fail to be an abiding blessing
to all who shall peruse or meditate upon their pages. Like
a light-house on some rock-bound coast, they shine out in a
world of spiritual darkness and invite the tempest-tossed on
the sea of life to come thither and find shelter from life's
harassing storms.
Thus this volume is given to the world, bearing with it the
impress of the greatest life it has ever been mine personally
to know, and the prayers of this writer that God's grace,
"bright as the light and soft as the dew," will rest upon its
pages and upon the heart of every one to whom this book
shall come.
J. B. Cranfill.
Dallas, Texas.
I
AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION
THE general theme of this section is "The Hebrew
Monarchy." The text-book is Crockett's "Harmony
of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles." The collateral
text-book is Wood's "Hebrew Monarchy." The best and
most convenient commentary on Samuel is Kirkpatrick's,
in the Cambridge Bible.
Other good text-books on Samuel and his times are:
Edersheim's "History of Israel," Vol. IV; Dean's "Samuel
and Saul ;" Hengstenberg's "Kingdom of God in the O. T.,"
Vol. II ; Hengstenberg's "Christology of the O. T.," Vol. I ;
Stanley's "Jewish Church;" Geikie's "Hours with the
Bible;" Geikie's "Bible Characters — Eli, Samuel, Saul;"
Sampey's "Syllabus;" Josephus. A good special commen-
tary on Chronicles is Murphy's.
I Chronicles 8, 9 and 10 parallels I Samuel, and the im-
portant distinctions between Samuel and Kings on the one
part, and Chronicles on the other part, are :
1. In the time of composition and in the authors, Samuel
and Kings were written by authors contemporary with the
events, but Chronicles was all compiled by Ezra after the
downfall of the monarchy.
2. The purpose was different. Samuel and Kings aim
to give a continuous history by contemporaneous authors,
of all Israel from the establishment of the kingdom, first
showing the transition from Judges to Kings, then the
division of the kingdom, then the history of the kingdoms
to the downfall of each, a period of five hundred years, all
continuous history by contemporaneous authors. But the
1
a THE HEBREW MONARCHY
purpose of Chronicles is unique. Ignoring the Northern
kingdom, it is designed to show merely the genealogy and
history of the Davidic line alone, in which the national
union is preserved, and, commencing with Adam, it shows
the persistence of national life after the downfall of the
monarchy. Its viewpoint is the restoration after the cap-
tivity by Babylon. And while, indeed, the compiler uses
the material of contemporaneous historians, or material of
historians contemporaneous with the events as they came
to pass, yet it is used as a retrospect.
3. Chronicles is a new and different beginning of Jewish
history, rooting in Genesis, and becomes the introduction of
all exile and post-exile O. T. books, and for the uninspired
books of the inter-biblical period, and hence is a preparation
for the coming Messiah in the Davidic line.
4. Hence the first seven chapters of Chronicles parallel
O. T. books prior to Samuel, and its last paragraph goes
beyond Kings in showing the connection with post-exile
history.
5. While it is proper to use Chronicles in the Harmony
with Samuel and Kings, one who studies Chronicles in the
Harmony only, can never get its true conception. As to
the title, "Samuel," to the two books which bear that name,
the following explanation is apropos:
1. In the Jewish enumeration the two books are one.
A note at the end of II Samuel in the Hebrew Bible still
treats the two books as one, and Eusebius, the great church
historian, quotes Origen to the effect that the Jews of his
day counted the books one. Josephus so counts them.
2. The meaning of the title is two-fold: (a) Up to
the death of Samuel it means the author of the book, and
(b) as applied to the whole book it means the principal
hero of the story up to the time of David.
I. Considering the history and the sources of the mate-
rial, we learn from I Chronicles 29 : 29 that the history of
THE AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 3
the reign of David is ascribed to three prophets — Samuel,
Nathan and Gad; and from other passages in Chronicles
we learn that other prophets took up the story. So far as
the scope of I and II Samuel extends we may well say that
the writers were Samuel, Nathan and Gad, i.e., Samuel up
to I Samuel 25, then Nathan and Gad.
2. I Chronicles 27:24 tells us of the state-records of
David's reign, and from these records may have been ob-
tained such matter as appears in II Samuel 8:16-18; 20:
23-26; 23:8-39.
3. In I Samuel 10:25 we learn that the charter of the
kingdom is expressly said to have been written by Samuel.
4. It is very probable that the national poetic literature
furnished Hannah's song, I Samuel 2: i-io; David's lament
for Abner, II Samuel 3 : 33, 34 ; David's Thanksgiving, II
Samuel 22, which is also the same as Psalm 18; the last
words of David, II Samuel 23 : 1-7. David's lament for
Saul and Jonathan, II Samuel i : 18-27, is expressly said
to be taken from the book of Jasher.
Certain passages in the book itself bear on the date of
the compilation in its present form:
1. There is an explanation in I Samuel 9 : 9 of old terms
which would be necessary, for the terms were not in use
when the book was compiled.
2. There is a reference to obsolete customs in II Samuel
13:18.
3. The phrase "unto this day" is repeated seven times :•
I Samuel 5:5, 6:18, 2y:6, 30:25; II Samuel 4:3, 6:8,
18:18.
4. II Samuel 5 : 5 refers to the whole reign of David.
5. In the Septuagint, but not in the Hebrew, there are
references extending to Rehoboam, Solomon's son.
6. In I Samuel 27:6 mention of the kings of Judah
seems to imply that the divisions of the kingdom in Reho-
4 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
boam's day had taken place. The conclusion as to the date
of the present form is that it was compiled soon after the
division of the kingdom. The canonicity of Samuel has
never been questioned. It is remarkably accurate, and every
way reliable. Each part is the language of the contempo-
raneous historian who was an eyewitness of the scenes,
though there are some parts difficult to harmonize, which
will be noticed particularly as they come up.
The materials for the text are the Hebrew Manuscript,
and the versions, towit: The Septuagint, the Chaldean, or
Aramaic, and the Vulgate. Our manuscripts of the Sep-
tuagint are mainly the Alexandrian Manuscript of the 5th
century A. D., and the Vatican Manuscript of the 4th cen-
tury. The Alexandrian Manuscript conforms most nearly
to the Hebrew text, there being an important variation in
the Vatican Manuscript from the Hebrew text that will be
subsequently noted. The Chaldean, or Aramaic version,
commonly known as the Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel,
is more a commentary or paraphrase than a translation,
and that, too, of the later Jews. In the third note to the
Appendix of I Samuel in the Cambridge Bible you will
find in this Targum quite a remarkable addition to Hannah's
Song, ascribing to her a prophecy that touches the destruc-
tion of the Philistines; the descendants of Samuel, who
form a part of the Davidic choir, and concerns Sennacherib
and Nebuchadnezzar, Greece, Haman and Rome. For this
prophecy, there is no inspired foundation.
Dr. Sampey, of the Louisville Seminary, says that the
text of this section needs editing more than any other part
of the Bible, and there are some peculiarities of the text
which we will now take up:
1. Certain passages exist in duplicate, all of them in II
Samuel except I Samuel 31, which is the same as I Chron-
icles 10: 1-12.
2. There are others remarkably similar; for example,
THE AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 5
compare the account in chapters 23 : 19 to 24 ; 22 with
chapter 26.
3. The Septuagint in the Vatican Manuscript differs
from the Alexandrian Manuscript, and also from the
Hebrew, in omitting a considerable part of chapters 17 and
18. The omission removes certain difficulties but creates
others :
4. The narrative of the Witch of Endor raising the
ghost or shade of Samuel (chapter 28) has provoked con-
troversies in every age, and special attention will be given
to that when we get to it.
5. In I Samuel i : 3 will be found an entirely new name
of God. It is not found in any antecedent O. T. book nor
in but few subsequent O. T. books. The name of the Lord
of Sabaoth, which means the "Lord of Hosts." All of
these peculiarities will be noted more particularly as we
come to them.
The following is Dr. Kirkpatrick's analysis of I Samuel :
I. The close of the period of the Judges, chapters 1-7.
1. The early life of Samuel, extending from i : i
to 4: la.
2. The judgments of Eli and the loss of the Ark,
4:ib-7:i.
3. The judicial life of Samuel, 7:2-17.
II. The foundation of the monarchy, chapters 8-31.
1. The appointment of the first king, chapters
8-10.
2. Saul's reign unto his rejection, chapters 11-15.
3. Decline of Saul and rise of David, chapters
16-31.
6 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
QUESTIONS
1. What the general theme of this section?
2. What the text-book?
3. What the collateral text-book?
4. What the best and most convenient commentary on Samuel?'
5. What other good text-books on Samuel and his times ?
6. What special commentary on Chronicles commended?
7. What part of I Chronicles parallels I Samuel?
8. What important distinctions between Samuel and Kings on the
one part, and Chronicles on the other part?
9. What of the title, "Samuel," to the two books which bear that
name?
10. Who wrote the history, and what the sources of the material?
11. What passages in the book itself bear on the date of the com-
pilation in its present form?
12. What the conclusion as to the date of the present form?
13. What of the canonicity of Samuel?
14. What of the accuracy and reliability of the history?
15. What can you say of the text of the book of Samuel?
16. What does Dr. Sampey say of the text?
17. What peculiarities of the text noted?
18. Whose analysis commended, and what its main divisions and
subdivisions ?
II
THE EARLY LIFE OF SAMUEL
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 62-66
WE omit Part I of the text-book, since that first
part is devoted to genealogical tables taken from
I Chronicles. That part of Chronicles is not an
introduction to Samuel or Kings, but an introduction to
the Old Testament books written after the Babylonian cap-
tivity. To put that in now would be out of place.
We need to emphasize the supplemental character of
Chronicles. Our Harmony indeed will show from time to
time in successive details the very important contributions
of that nature in Chronicles not found in any form in the
histories of Samuel and Kings, nor elsewhere in the O. T. ;
but to appreciate the magnitude of this new matter we need
to glance at it in bulk, not in detail, as its parts will come
up later.
There are twenty whole chapters and parts of twenty-
four other chapters in Chronicles occupied with matter not
found in other books of the Bible.
This is a considerable amount of new material, and is
valuable on that account, but it is still more valuable be-
cause it presents a new aspect of Hebrew history after the
captivity. The following passages in Chronicles contain
new matter : I Chronicles 2 : 18-55 J 3 • 19-24 ; all of chap-
ters 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 ; chapter 11 : 41-47 ; all of chapter 12 ;
chapter 15:1-26; all of chapters 22 to 29; II Chronicles
6 : 40-42 ; chapter 1 1 : 5-23 ; chapter 12 : 4-8 ; chapter 13:3-
21; chapter 14:3-15; chapter 15:1-15; chapter 16:7-10;
all of chapters 17 and 19; chapter 20:1-30; chapter 21:
2-4, 11-19; and chapter 24:15-22; chapter 25:5-10, 12-16;
7
8 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
chapter 26 : 5-20 ; chapter 27 : 4-6 ; chapter 28 : 5-25 ; chapter
29:3-36; all of chapters 30 and 31; chapter 32:22, 23,
26-31; chapter 33: 11-19; chapter 34^3-7; chapter 35:2-17,
25 ; chapter 36 : 1 1-23.
Whoever supposed that there was that much material
in the book of Chronicles that could not be found anywhere
else? One can study Chronicles as a part of a Harmony
with Samuel and Kings, but if that were the only way it
could be studied he would never get the true significance
of it, as it is an introduction to all of the later O. T. books.
In the light of these important new additions, we not only
see the introduction of all subsequent O. T. books and also
inter-biblical books by Jews, but must note the transition
in thought from a secular Jewish kingdom to an approach-
ing spiritual Messianic kingdom.
We thus learn that O. T. prophecy is not limited to dis-
tinct utterances foretelling future events, but that the whole
history of the Jewish people is prophetic ; not merely in its
narrative, but in its legislation, in its types, feasts. Sab-
baths, sacrifices, offerings; in its tabernacle and temple,
with all of their divinely appointed worship and ritual, and
this explains why the historical books are classed as pro-
phetic, not merely because prophets wrote them, which is
true, but also because the history is prophetic.
In this fact lies one of the strongest proofs of the inspira-
tion of the Old Testament hooks in all of their parts. The
things selected for record, and the things not recorded, are
equally forcible. The silence equals the utterance. This
is characteristic of no other literature, and shows divine
supervision which not only makes necessary every part re-
corded, hut so correlates and adapts the parts as to make
a perfect literary and spiritual structure which demands a
New Testament as a culmination.
Moreover, we are blind if we cannot see a special Provi-
dence preparing a leader for every transition in Jewish
EARLY LIFE OF SAMUEL 9
history. Just as Moses was prepared for deliverance from
Egypt, and for the disposition of the law, so Samuel is
prepared, not only to guide from a government by judges
to a government by kings, but, what is very much more
important, to establish a School of the Prophets — a theo-
logical seminary.
These prophets were to he the mouth-pieces of God in
speaking to kingly and national conscience, and for five
hundred years afterwards, become the orators, poets, his-
torians and reformers of the nation, and so, for centuries,
avert, postpone or remedy, national disasters provoked by
public corruption of morals and religion.
Counting great men as peaks of a mountain range, and
sighting backwards from Samuel to Abraham, only one
peak, Moses, comes into the line of vision.
There are other peaks, but they don't come up high
enough to rank with Abraham, Moses and Samuel. A list
of the twelve best and greatest men in the world's history
must include the name of Samuel. When we come, at his
death, to analyze his character and posit him among the
great, other things will be said. Just now we are to find
in his early life that such a man did not merely happen;
that neither heredity, environment nor chance produced him.
Samuel was born at Ramah, lived at Ramah, died at
Ramah and was buried at Ramah. Ramah is a little village
in the mountains of Ephraim, somewhat north of the city
of Jerusalem. It is right hard to locate Ramah on any
present map of the Holy Land. Some would put it south,
some north. It is not easy to locate like Bethlehem and
Shiloh.
Samuel belonged to the tribe of Levi, but was not a
descendant of Aaron. If he had been he would have been
either a high priest or a priest. Only Aaron's descendants
could be high priests, or priests, but Samuel belonged to
the tribe of Levi, and from I Chronicles 6 you may trace
10 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
his descent. The tribe of Levi had no continuous landed
territory like the other tribes, but was distributed among
the other tribes. That tribe belonged to God, and they had
no land assigned them except the villages in which they
lived and the cities of refuge, of which they had charge,
and so Samuel's father could be called an Ephrathite and
yet be a descendant of the tribe of Levi — that is, he was a
Levite living in the territory of Ephraim.
The bigamy of Samuel's father produced the usual bitter
fruit. The first and favorite wife had no children, so m
order to perpetuate his name he took a second wife, and
when that second wife bore him a large brood of children
she gloried over the first wife, and provoked her and mocked
at her for having no children, and it produced a great bitter-
ness in Hannah's soul. The history of the Mormons dem-
onstrates that bitterness always accompanies a plurality of
wives. I don't see how a woman can share a home or
husband with any other woman.
We will now consider the attitude of the Mosaic law
toward a plurality of wives, divorce, etc. In Deuteronomy
21 : 15-17 we see that the Mosaic law did permit an existing
custom. It did not originate it nor command it, but it tol-
erated the universal custom of the times — a plurality of
wives. From Deuteronomy 24: 1-4, we learn that the law
permitted a husband to get rid of a wife, but commanded
him to give her a bill of divorcement. That law was not
made to encourage divorce, but to limit the evil and to pro-
tect the woman who would suffer under divorce. Why the
law even permitted these things we see from Matthew 19:
7, 8. Our Savior there tells us that Moses, on account of
the hardness of their hearts, permitted a man to put away
his wife. That is to say, that nation had just emerged from
slavery, and the prevalent- custom all around them permitted
something like that, and because they were not prepared
for an ideal law on the subject on account of the hardness
EARLY LIFE OF SAMUEL 11
of their hearts, Moses tolerated, without commending a
plurality of wives or commanding divorce — both in a way
to mitigate the evil — but when Jesus comes to give His
statute on the subject He speaks out and says, ''Whosoever
shall put away his wife except for marital infidelity and
marries again committeth adultery, and whosoever shall
marry her that is put away committeth adultery." A
preacher in a recent sermon, as reported, discredited that
part of Matthew because not found also in Mark. I have
no respect for the radical criticism which makes Mark the
only credible gospel, or even the norm of the others. Nor
can any man show one shred of evidence that it is so. 1
have a facsimile of the three oldest New Testament manu-
scripts. What Matthew says is there, and may not be
eliminated on such principles of criticism.
The radical critics say that the Levitical part of the
Mosaic law was not written by Moses, but by a priest in
Ezekiel's time, and that Israel had no central place of wor-
ship in the period of the judges, but this section shows that
they did have a central place of worship at Shiloh, and
the book of Joshua shows when Shiloh became the central
place of worship. The text shows that they did come up
yearly to this central place of worship, and that they did
offer, as in the case of Hannah and Elkanah, the sacrifices
required in Leviticus.
In Joshua i8 : i we learn that when the conquest was
finished Joshua, himself, placed the Ark and the Taber-
nacle at Shiloh, and constituted it the central place of wor-
ship. In this section we learn what disaster ended Shiloh
as the central place of worship. The Ark was captured,
and subsequently the Tabernacle was removed, and that
Ark and that Tabernacle never got together again. In
Jeremiah 7:12 we read: "But go ye now unto my place
which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at
the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my
12 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
people Israel/* Jeremiah is using that history as a threat
against Jerusalem, which in Jeremiah's time was the central
place of worship. His lesson was, "If you repeat the wick-
edness done in Samuel's time God will do to your city and
your home what He did to Shiloh!'
It is important to know the subsequent separate history
of the Ark and the Tabernacle, and when and where an-
other permanent central place and house of worship were
established. The Bible tells us every move that Ark and
that Tabernacle made, and when, where and by whom the
permanent central place and house of worship were
estabHshed.
Eli was high priest at Samuel's birth. In those genea-
logical tables that we omitted from I Chronicles we see that
Eli was a descendant of Aaron, but not of Eleazar, the
eldest son ; therefore, according to the Mosaic law, he ought
never to have been high priest, but he was, and I will have
something to say about that when the true line is established
later. I Samuel 4, which comes in the next chapter, dis-
tinctly states that Eli judged Israel 40 years, and he was
likely a contemporary of Samson. But Eli, at the time we
know him, is ninety-eight years old, and nearly blind. He
was what we call a good-hearted man, but weak. That
combination in a ruler makes him a curse. Diplomats tell
us "a blunder is worse than a crime,'* in a ruler. He shows
his weakness in allowing his sons, Hophni and Phinehas,
to degrade the worship of God. They were acting for him,
as he was too old for active service. The most awful re-
ports came to him about the infamous character of these
sons, who occupied the highest and holiest office in a nation
that belonged to God.
This section tells us that he only remonstrated in his
weak way: "My sons, it is not a good report that I hear
about you,'* but that is all he did. As he was judge and
high priest, why should he prefer his sons to the honor of
EARLY LIFE OF SAMUEL 13
God? Why did he not remove them from positions of
trust and influence ? His doom is announced in this section,
and it is an awful one. God sent a special prophet to him
and this is the doom. You will find it in chapter 2, com-
mencing at verse 30: ^'Wherefore the Lord, the God of
Israel, saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of
thy father, should walk before me forever: but now the
Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honor me I
will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly es-
teemed. Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine
arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall
not be an old man in thine house. And thou shalt see an
enemy in my habitation (Shiloh), in all the wealth which
God shall give Israel : and there shall not be an old man
among thy descendants forever. And the descendants of
thine, whom I do not cut of¥ from mine altar, shall live to
consume thine eyes, and grieve thine heart': and all the
increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age.'*
Or as Samuel puts it to him, we read in chapter 3, com-
mencing at verse 1 1 : "And the Lord said unto Samuel,
Behold I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of
every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I shall
perform against Eli all things that I have spoken against
his house: when I begin I will also make an end. For I
have told him that I will judge his house forever for the
iniquity which he knoweth, because his sons made them-
selves vile and he restrained them not; therefore I have
sworn unto the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house
shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering forever."
What was the sign of his doom? The same passage
answers: "And this shall be a sign unto thee, that shall
come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one
day they shall die both of them. And I will raise me up a
faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in
my heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure
14 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
house; and he shall walk before mine anointed forever.
And it shall come to pass, that everyone that is left in thy
house shall come and bow down to him for a piece of silver
and a loaf of bread." That was the sign. In the time of
Solomon the priesthood goes back to the true line, in ful-
fillment of the declaration in that sign. The priesthood
passes away from Eli's descendants and goes back where
it belongs — to Zadok — who is a descendant of Aaron's
eldest son.
The Philistine nation at this time dominated Israel. The
word, "Philistines," means emigrant-people that go out
from their native land, and it is of the same derivation as
the word "Palestine." That Holy Land, strangely enough,
takes its name from the Philistines. The Phihstines were
descended from Mizraim, a child of Ham, and their place
was in Egypt. Leaving Egypt they became "Philistines,"
that is, emigrants, and occupied all of that splendid low-
land on the western and southwestern part of the Jewish
territory, next to the Mediterranean Sea, which was as level
as a plain, and as fertile as the Nile valley. There they
established five independent cities, which, like the Swiss
Cantons, formed a confederacy. While each was independ-
ent for local affairs, they united in offensive and defensive
aUiances against other nations, and they had complete con-
trol of Southern Judea at this time. Joshua had overpow-
ered them, but the conquest was not complete. They rose
up from under his power, even in his time, and in the time
of Samson and Eli they brought Israel into a pitiable sub-
jection. They were not allowed to have even a grindstone.
If they wanted to sharpen an axe they had to go and borrow
a Philistine's grindstone, and what a good text for a sermon !
Woe to the man that has to sharpen the implement with
which he works in the shop of an enemy! Woe to the
Southern preacher that goes to a radical critic's Seminary in
order to sharpen his theological axe!
EARLY LIFE OF SAMUEL 16
Speaking of the evils of a plurality of wives, we found
Hannah in great bitterness of heart because she had no
child, and we saw her lingering at the central place of
worship, and without saying words out loud, her lips were
moving, and her face was as one entranced, so that Eli
thinks she is drunk. The N. T. tells us of a certain Hke-
ness between intoxication with ardent spirits and intoxica-
tion of the Holy Spirit. She told him that she was praying.
When her child was born she came back and said to him,
*'l am the woman that you thought was drunk, but I was
praying," and then she uses this language: "I prayed for
this child," holding the little fellow up in her hands, "and
I vowed that if God would give him to me I would lend
him to the Lord all the days of his life," and therefore she
brings him to be consecrated perpetually to God's service.
The scripture brings all that out beautifully.
So the text speaks of the woes pronounced on a parent
who put off praying for and restraining his children until
they were grown. Like Hannah we should commence pray-
ing for them before they are born; pray for them in the
cradle, and if you make any promise or vow to God for
them, keep the vow.
I know a woman who had many children and kept pray-
ing that God would send her one preacher child, promising
to do everything in her power to make him a great preacher.
The Lord gave her two. One of my deacons used to send
for me when a new baby was born, to pray for it. Oliver
Wendell Holmes says a child's education should commence
with his grandmother. Paul tells us that this was so with
Timothy. The Mosaic law required every male to appear
before the Lord at the central place of worship three times
a year. The text says that Elkanah went up yearly, but
does not state how many times a year. The inference is
fairly drawn that he strictly kept the Mosaic law.
Samuel had certain duties in the Tabernacle. He slept
16 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
in the Lord's house and tended to the lights. It is a, great
pity when a child of darkness attends to the lights in God's
house.
I heard a preacher say to a sexton, "How is it that you
ring the bell to call others to heaven and you, yourself,
seem going right down to hell?" And that same preacher
said to a surveyor, "You survey land for other people to
have a home, and have no home yourself." So some preach-
ers point out the boundaries of the home in heaven and
make their own bed in hell.
Samuel's call from God, his first prophecy, and his rec-
ognition by the people as a prophet are facts of great in-
terest, and the lesson from his own failure to at once rec-
ognize the call is of great value. In the night he heard a
voice saying, "Samuel! Samuel!" He thought it was Eli,
and he went to Eli and said, "Here I am. You called me."
"No, I didn't call you, my son ; go back to bed." The voice
came again, "Samuel, Samuel," and he got up and went to
Eli and said, "You did call me. What do you want with
me?" "No, my son, I did not call you; go back and lie
down," and the third time the voice came, "Samuel,
Samuel," and he went again to Eli. Then Eli knew that it
was God who called him, and he said, "My son, it is the
Lord. You go back and when the voice comes again, say.
Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth," and so God spoke
and the first burden of prophecy that He put upon the boy's
heart was to tell the doom of the house of Eli. Very soon
after that all Israel recognized Samuel as a prophet of God.
The value of the lesson is this: We don't always recog-
nize the divine touch at first. Many a man under convic-
tion does not at first understand its source and nature.
Others, even after they are converted, are not sure they are
converted. It is like the mover's chickens that, after their
legs were untied, would lie still, not realizing that they were
free. The ligatures around their legs had cut oflf the circu-
EARLY LIFE OF SAMUEL 17
lation, and they felt as if they were tied after they were
loose. There is always an interval between an event and
the cognition of it. For example, when a shot is fired it
, precedes our recognition of it by either the sight of smoke
or the sound of the explosion, for it takes both sound and
sight some time to travel over the intervening space. I
heard Major Penn say that the worst puzzle in his life was
the experiences whereby God called him to quit his law
work and become an evangelist. He didn't understand it.
It was like Samuel going to Eli.
I now will give an analysis of that gem of Hebrew poetry,
Hannah's song, showing its conception of God, and the
reason of its imitation in the New Testament. The idea
of Hannah's conception of God thus appears:
There is none besides God; He stands alone. There is
none holy but God. There is none that abaseth the proud
and exalteth the lowly, feedeth the hungry, and maketh the
full hungry, except God; and there is none but God that
killeth and maketh alive. There is none but God who estab-
lisheth this earth; none but God who keepeth the feet of
His saints ; none but God that has true strength ; none but
God that judgeth the ends of the earth, and the chief ex-
cellency of it is the last : "He shall give strength unto His
king and exalt the horn of His Anointed." That is the first
place in the Bible where the kingly office is mentioned in
connection with the name "Anointed." The name,
"Anointed," means Christ, the Messiah.
It is true that it was prophesied to Abraham that kings
should be his descendants. It is true that Moses made
provision for a king. It is true that in the book of Judges
anointing is shown to be the method of setting apart to
kingly office, but this is the first place in the Bible where
the one anointed gets the name of the "Anointed One," a
king. Because of this Messianic characteristic, Mary, when
it was announced to her that she should be the mother of
18 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
the Anointed King, pours out her soul in the Magnificat,
imitating Hannah's song.
The state of rehgion at this time was very low. We see
from the closing of the book of Judges that at the feast of
Shiloh they had irreligious dances. We see from the text
here that Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of religion,
were not only as corrupt as anybody, but leaders in cor-
ruption. We see it declared that there is no open vision,
and it is further declared that the Word of God was pre-
cious — rare.
I will now explain these two phrases in the texts, I Sam.
I : i6 (A. v.), where Hannah says, "Count not thine hand-
maid for a daughter of Belial," and in 2: 12 (A. V.), where
Hophni and Phinehas are said to be the ''sons of Belial."
The common version makes Belial a proper name; the
revised version does not, and the revised version is at fault,
n you will turn to H Cor. 6: 15, you will see that Belial is
shown to be the name of Satan : "What concord hath Christ
with Behal?" Get Milton's "Paradise Lost," First Book,
and read the reference to Hophni and Phinehas as sons of
Belial, and see that he correctly makes it a proper name.
Samuel was not a descendant of Aaron. He was merely
a Levite, but he subsequently, as we shall learn, officiated
in sacrifices as if he were a priest or high priest. It will
be remembered that the priesthood was under the curse
pronounced on Eli, and Samuel was a special exceptional
appointee of God, as Moses was.
Dr. Burleson, a great Texas preacher, and president of
Baylor University, preached all over Texas a sermon on
family government, taking his text from I Sam. 2:31.
There are some passages and quotations from Geikie's
"Hours With the Bible" on the evils of a plurality of wives
that are pertinent. Commenting on Elkanah's double mar-
riage he says, "But, as might have been expected, this double
marriage — a thing even then uncommon — did not add to
EARLY LIFE OF SAMUEL 19
his happiness, for even among the Orientals the misery of
polygamy is proverbial. 'From what I know/ says one,
'it is easier to live with two tigeresses than with two wives.'
And a Persian poet is of well-nigh the same opinion: —
"'Be that man's life immersed in gloom
Who needs more wives than one :
With one his cheeks retain their bloom,
His voice a cheerful tone :
These speak his honest heart at rest,
And he and she are always blest.
But when with two he seeks for joy,
Together they his soul annoy ;
With two no sunbeam of delight
Can make his day of misery bright.'
"An old Eastern Drama is no less explicit: —
"'Wretch! would'st thou have another wedded slave?
Another? What? Another? At thy peril
Presume to try the experiment : would'st thou not
For that unconscionable, foul desire
Be linked to misery? Sleepless nights, and days
Of endless torment — still recurring sorrow
Would be thy lot. Two wives ! O never ! Never !
Thou hast not power to please two rival queens ;
Their tempers would destroy thee ; sear thy brain ;
Thou canst not, Sultan, manage more than one.
Even one may be beyond thy government !' "
QUESTIONS
1. Why omit Part I of the text-book?
2. What, in bulk, is the supplemental matter in Chronicles, and
what its importance?
3. What and where the place of Samuel's birth, residence and
burial ?
4. What his ancestry and tribe ?
5. If he belonged to the tribe of Levi, why then is he called an
Ephraimite, or Ephrathite, which in this place is equivalent?
6. Show that the bigamy of Samuel's father produced the usual
bitter fruit.
7. What was the attitude of the Mosaic law toward a plurality of
wives, and divorce, and why?
8. Why did the lav/ ever permit these things ?
9. What is the bearing of this section on the contention of the
radical critics that the Levitical part of the Mosaic law was not
written by Moses, but by a priest in Ezekiel's time, and that Israel
had no central place of worship in the period of the Judges?
W THE HEBREW MONARCHY
10. When did Shiloh become the central place of worship, how long
did it so remain, and what use did Jeremiah make of its desolation?
11. Trace the subsequent and separate history of the Ark and the
Tabernacle, and show when and where another permanent central
place and house of worship were established.
12. Who was high priest at Samuel's birth, how was he descended
from Aaron, and what the proof that he also judged Israel?
13. With which of the judges named in the book of Judges was he
likely a contemporary ?
14. What was Eli's character, sin, doom, sign of the doom, and
who announced it to him?
15. What nation at this time dominated Israel ?
16. Give a brief and clear account of these people.
17. Show how Samuel was a child of prayer, the subject of a vow,
a Nazarite, how consecrated to service, and the lessons therefrom.
18. How often did the Mosaic law require every male to appear
before the Lord at the central place of worship, and to what extent
was this law fulfilled by Samuel's father and mother?
19. What were the duties of the child Samuel in the Tabernacle?
20. Give an account of Samuel's call from God, his first prophecy,
his recognition by the people as a prophet, and the lesson from his own
failure, for a while, to recognize the call.
21. Analyze that gem of Hebrew poetry, Hannah's song, showing
its conception of God, and give the reason of its imitation in the New
Testament.
22. What was the state of religion at this time?
23. Explain the references to Belial in I Sam. i : 16 and 2 : 12.
24. As Samuel was not a descendant of Aaron, but merely a Levite,
why does he subsequently, as we shall learn, officiate in sacrifices as
if he were a priest or high priest ?
25. What great Texas preacher preached all over Texas a sermon
on family government, taking his text from I Sam. 2:31 ?
26. Cite the passages and quotations from "Geikie's Hours with
the Bible" on the evils of a plurality of wives.
Ill
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF ELI, AND THE
RISE OF SAMUEL
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 66-69
1WILL give, in order, the passages showing the rise of
Samuel over against the descent of Eli. Samuel, more
than any other book of the Bible, excels in vividness
of detail, and especially in showing progressiveness in char-
acter, either upward or downward — either growing better
or worse. Over against the iniquities of Eli's sons and the
doom pronounced on his house, we have in order, these
passages : I Sam. i : 27, 28 ; 2 : 18, and the last clause of
verse 21 ; 2 : 26 ; 3:1-4; also 19-21 ; and 4:1.
The progress is: (i) For this child I prayed. (2) The
child prayed for is devoted to Jehovah. (3) His home is
God's house and there he serves and worships. (4) The
child is called. (5) The child grew in favor with God and
man. (6) The child kept on growing. (7) He is recog-
nized as a prophet by all Israel from Dan to Beersheba.
In the meantime Eli's house steadily descends until the
bottom is reached.
Macaulay, in his "History of England," in telling about
the great men in power at a certain time, including Lord
Halifax, substantially makes this remark: "These great
men did not know that they were even then being eclipsed
by two young men who were rising up, that would attain
to greater heights and influence than the others had ever
attained," and he gives the names of the two young men
as John Somers and Charles Montague.
21
22 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
You may apply this throughout life: A train once in
motion will run for a while on its own impetus, but in both
cases the motion will gradually cease unless new power be
applied. So in every community there are leaders holding
position from past momentum, while new men are rising
that will eclipse and succeed them. As in nature when a
tree quits growing it begins to die, and when a stream quits
flowing its waters stagnate, so when a leader quits studying
he begins to lose power and must give place to younger
men who are studious. And it will some day be so with
you, and you will enter what is called the declining period
of your Hfe. For a while it will astonish you that you are
not cutting as wide a swath as you used to cut, and unless
you Hve only in God, that will be the bitterest hour of your
life. Very few people know how to grow old gracefully;
some of them become very bitter as they grow old.
The following is a summary of the events connected with
the fall of the house of Eli :
I. An enemy is strengthened to smite them. The ab-
sence of purity, piety, veneration and fideHty in God's people
— either His nominal people like Hophni and Phinehas, or
His real people, as Eli — always develops a conquering
enemy. The case of Samson, Eli's contemporaneous judge,
illustrates this. When he betrayed the secret of his strength,
he went out as aforetime and knew not that the Spirit of
the Lord had departed from him, and so became an easy
victim of the Philistines — ^bound, eyes put out, enslaved,
grinding in the mills of God's enemies, a sport to them,
with the added despair that the cause suffered in his
downfall.
The devil has known from the beginning that his only
chance to win against God's people is, by their sins, to turn
God against them. He knows that as long as God is for
you, nobody can be against you. He knows that he cannot
fight against you when you have God back of you, but if
THE FALL OF ELI 23
you become estranged from God, the devil will show you
very quickly that when it comes to a wrestle he can give
you a fall, and it does not take him long to do it.
It was in this way that he influenced Balaam to suggest
to Balak the plan to make Israel sin with women, as a step
toward idolatry. His slogan was : "If you can make them
sin against their God and put Him against them, then you
can down them/* The Phinehas of that day, how different
from this Phinehas, Eli's son! Naming a child after a
great and good man does not make him like his namesake.
One of the most unpatriotic men I ever knew was named
after George Washington ; one of the greatest failures as a
preacher was named after Spurgeon; one of the poorest
excuses for a statesman was named after Sam Houston.
Now here is Phinehas, the son of Eli, named after that
other Phinehas of Balaam's time.
The devil, here called Belial, is never better satisfied than
when he can nominate his own children as ministers of
religion. Hophni and Phinehas, children of Belial, were
priests. The prevalent evils of today arise from the fact
that children of Belial occupy many pulpits and many chairs
in theological seminaries and Christian schools. Always
they are the advance couriers of disaster to God's cause,
and herald the coming of a triumphant adversary.
When prea-chers and professors in schools begin to hawk
at and peck at the Bible, and rend it with their talons, or
defile the spiritual feasts like harpies, you should not only
count them as unclean birds of prey, but should begin to set
your own house in order, for trouble is coming fast.
2. The Philistines won a battle. Four thousand Israel-
ites were slain.
3. Stimulated by fear, the sons of Eli resorted to an
expedient, tempting God. They sent for the Ark, taking it
from its appointed place to be used as a fetish or charm.
So used as an instrument of superstition it had no more
U THE HEBREW MONARCHY
power to avert evil than a negro's use of a rabbit's foot, or
the naiHng up of a horse shoe over a door to keep off
witches.
As religion becomes decadent its votaries resort to charms,
amulets, relics of the saints, alleged pieces of the Cross,
images and other kinds of evil, instead of resorting to re-
pentance, faith and obedience. So used, the most sacred
symbol becomes worse than any common thing.
We will see later in Jewish history the idolatrous worship
of the brazen serpent made by Moses, and we will hear
good King Hezekiah say, as he breaks it to pieces, "Ne-
hushtan," i.e., "it is only a piece of brass." As a symbol,
when lifted up, it was of great use, but when used as an
object of worship it became only a piece of brass. A stu-
dent of history knows that a multiplication of holy days,
pyrotechnic displays, games, festivities, plays and cruel
sports, until there are no days to work, marks the decadence
of a people. You need not be afraid of any nation that
gives great attention to fireworks — a characteristic of the
Latin races.
We shout in vain : *The Ark of the Lord ! The Ark of
the Lord!" when we fail to follow the Lord himself. No
issue is made in that way, as it is not an issue of the Lord
against Dagon, but a superstitious and impious use of sacred
symbols against the devil, and the devil will whip every
time. In the medieval times, early in the history of the
crusades, you can see that even the Cross so used falls
before the Crescent, the sign of Mahomet's followers.
We might as well seek the remission of sins in baptism,
or salvation in the bread of the Supper, as to expect God's
favor sought by any such means.
When Elisha smote the Jordan with Elijah's mantle, he
trusted not to the mantle, nor did he say, "Where is Elijah?"
but he said, "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?" and so he
divided the waters.
THE FALL OF ELI 25
3. The Philistines won another battle. Thirty thousand
Israelites perished; Hophni and Phinehas were slain; the
Ark was captured ; Eli died, and the wife of Phinehas died
in premature labor, naming her new born babe, "Ichabod,"
that is, "The glory is departed from Israel;" Shiloh was
captured and made desolate forever, ceasing to be the cen-
tral place of worship; both the Ark and the Tabernacle
became fugitives, separating never to meet again, and so
Israel lamented after the Lord.
4. The Philistines regarded the capture of the Ark,
(i) as a triumph of their god, Dagon, over Jehovah, the
God of Israel, and so they placed it in a subordinate position
before Dagon in their Temple. (2) They regarded it as
the capture of Jehovah himself, obHgated by His captivity
to now serve the PhiHstines as He had heretofore ministered
to Israel.
The prevalence of such conceptions in ancient times is
very evident. For ages the presence of a deity was asso-
ciated with his symbol. To capture his symbol, or image,
was to capture the deity, as in the story of Aladdin in "The
Arabian Nights," whoever held the lamp of the genie con-
trolled the genie himself. Assyrian sculptures today ex-
hibit the idols of vanished nations borne in triumphant pro-
cession, and the parade is always to show that they have
triumphed over the gods of that country.
The Hebrew prophets allude to this custom frequently.
The passages are Isa. 46:1, Jer. 48:7 and 49:3, Hosea
10:6 and Dan. 11:8. Cyrus, when he captured Babylon,
adopted its gods, but the Romans under Marcellus brought
to adorn their own cities the captured images and pictures
of the Greek gods. Nebuchadnezzar carried away the
sacred symbols of Jerusalem when he captured that city, as
did Titus after our Lord's time, and you can see in Rome
today, carved on the Arch, the seven-branched Golden Can-
dlestick which Titus carried from the Temple of Jerusalem
S6 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
in triumph to Rome. The Roman general, Fabius, when
he captured the City of Tarentum, said to his soldiers,
"Leave their gods here; their gods are mad at them; so
let us leave them with their gods which they have offended,"
and so they left the idols. It would have been a good thing,
as after-events show, had Nebuchadnezzar done the same
thing, for when Belshazzar, his successor, on a certain night
at a drunken feast, used the sacred vessels of the temple
for desecration, it was then that the hand came out and
wrote on the wall, *'Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin."
Jehovah showed the Philistines that their victory was not
over Him. (i) By causing the image of Dagon to fall
down before the Ark, and when they set it up again, caused
it to fall down again, and to break its head and arms off;
(2) by sending two great plagues: tumors or boils, violent
and fatal, under which thousands died, and field mice that
swarmed so as to destroy the great harvests of grain that
made their land famous; (3) by causing the cessation of
the worship of Dagon in Ashdod, for after taking the falls
and breaking his head and arms off, no man would go in
and worship Dagon.
A natural inquiry when an individual or a people is sub-
ject to a series of severe and extraordinary disasters is,
What sin have we committed and how may we expiate it,
or avert its judgment? Such an inquiry is inseparably
connected with any conception of the moral government of
God. Men may indeed often fail to note that all afflictions
are not punitive, some being disciplinary, or preparatory to
greater displays of mercy. You see this problem discussed
in the case of Job and his friends; also to those who asked
Jesus, "Who did sin, this man or his parents?" He an-
swered that this affliction did not result from personal sin
of either of them, but that the glory of God might be mani-
fested. It is the most natural thing in the world for any-
body who has suffered one buffet of ill fortune after an-
THE FALL OF ELI n
other, to ask, "What have I done?" and it is perfectly nat-
ural for the neighbors to point out that one and say, "Ah,
you have been doing something against the Lord: your sin
is finding you out." Therefore it was the most natural
thing in the world for the Philistines, when they saw such
disasters coming in connection with the capture of the Ark,
to put the question, "What is our sin?"
We will see what expedients the Philistines adopted to
determine whether their calamities came only in a natural
way, or were supernatural afflictions connected with the
Ark and coming from the offended Jehovah, and if from
Jehovah, how He was to be appeased. I Sam. 5 : 7-1 1 gives
us the first expedient: "We will move this Ark from
Ashdod to the next one of the five cities, and see what
happens then. If the same things happen there, we will
move it to the next city, and if the same things happen
there we will move it to the next city, and so on around
the circle of the five cities, and if the same results follow
all of these cities, such a series of incidents will be regarded
as full proof that the judgments are from Jehovah."
You will recall the story of the boy and the cow bells.
He said, "When my father found a cow bell, Ma and I
were mighty glad, for we needed one. And when he found
another cow bell we were glad again, for we really needed
another one, but when Dad found another cow bell. Ma
and I became suspicious." A man would not naturally
find three cow bells one after another, so they thought that
"Dad" had stolen them. So when five cities, one after the
other, had the same afflictions, they could not call that
chance.
I knew of a general in a terrible battle who, when a
bomb-shell as big as a water bucket came from a gunboat,
cut through a tree and sank into the ground, making an
excavation that you could put a house in, ran and put his
head right into the hole where the shell came. Somebody
28 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
asked him why, and he said that such a shell as that would
never come twice in the same place. And so the Philistine
idea was to move the Ark from Ashdod to the next city,
and if nothing happened, then they were mistaken about
this being chastisement from Jehovah, but if wherever they
took it there came the mice and boils on the inhabitants,
they were not mistaken, and they could not misunderstand.
That was their first expedient. Their second expedient
was to call upon their religious leaders, their diviners and
soothsayers, and to ask them to tell them how they could
conciliate Jehovah. And the diviners told them that the
Ark must be sent back, and it must be sent back with a
gift, and the gift must signify their confession of sin. In
the olden times if a man was healed of a wound in his hand,
the Lord was presented with a silver offering to commemo-
rate the healing of the hand. So they had five golden mice
made, one for each city, and five golden tumors, one for
each city, to symbolize their conception that the evils had
come upon them for this offence to Jehovah. But as there
still might be a question as to whether these afflictions were
natural or supernatural, they tested it in this way: They
went to the pen where were cows with young calves (you
know what a fool a cow is over her first calf when it is little)
and hitched two of these cows to a cart, put the Ark on it,
to see if the cows, against nature, would go away and
leave their calves willingly, and still thinking about the
calves and calling them, would carry the Ark back to some
city of the Levites ; that would show that Jehovah was in it.
That was a pretty wise idea of those Philistines, and so
when they took a new cart and put the Ark on it, and took
those two mother cows, they never hesitated but struck a
bee-line for the nearest Levite city, about twelve miles, and
they went bellowing, showing that they felt the absence
from their calves. These were their two expedients.
I Sam. 6 : 19, 20 says that some of the people at Beth-
THE FALL OF ELI 29
shemesh looked into the Ark to see what was in there, and
the blow fell in a minute. No man was authorized to open
that sacred chamber over which the Mercy-seat rested and
on which the cherubs sat, but the high priests of God. If
you will turn to the Septuagint, you will find another
remarkable thing which does not appear in the Hebrew
Bible, viz. : all of the Levites of the city of Beth-shemesh
rejoiced at the return of the Ark of God, except one man,
Jeconiah, and his family, who refused to rejoice at its home-
coming, and God smote that family in a moment.
Now, a later instance: When the Ark, at the request of
the citizens of Beth-shemesh, was moved to Kirjath-jearim,
and stayed there until David had been reigning a long time,
he sent after it, and when Uzzah, when the Ark was shaken
by the oxen stumbling, reached up his hand to steady the
Ark, God struck him dead. His attempt was well-meant,
but it presumed that God was not able to take care of him-
self. It was a violation of the law for any man to touch that
Ark except the ones appointed by Jehovah. Which one of
the Psalms commemorates the capture and restoration of
the Ark?
After twenty years Samuel led Israel to repentance and
victory. I Sam. 7:3-12 tells us all about it. It says that
Samuel called upon them to truly repent of their sins; if
they ever wanted the favor of God any more, to cast off
their idols and obey God. This is like John the Baptist
saying, "Repent ye, repent ye." Every prophet, in order
to be a reformer, w^as a preacher of repentance. The people
repented of their sins, turned from their idols, and returned
to God. He assembled all Israel at Mizpah ; the Philistines
heard of it and came with a great army. Samuel and Israel
met them and smote them hip and thigh, and broke their
power.
The next paragraph in the Harmony tells how Samuel
judged Israel, and the regular circuit he made while living
80 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
at Ramah. He would go to Beth-el, Gilgal, and Mizpah,
then come back, holding special courts of judgment, and
with such wisdom, purity and impartiality that he must be
classed as the last, best and greatest of the judges.
QUESTIONS
1. Cite, in order, the passages showing Samuel's rise over against
the descent of Eli.
2. What said Macaulay on this point, and what other examples
cited by the author?
3. Give a summary of the events connected with the fall of the
house of Eli.
4. How did the Philistin> s regard the capture of the Ark?
5. Show the prevalence of such conceptions in ancient times.
6. How did Jehovah show the Philistines that their victory was not
over him?
7. What is the natural inquiry when an individual or a people is
subject to a series of severe and extraordinary disasters?
8. To what expedients did the Philistines resort to determine
whether their calamities came only in a natural way, or were super-
natural afflictions connected with the Ark and coming from the
offended Jehovah, and if from Jehovah, how was He to be appeased?
9. How else did Jehovah manifest the sanctity of His Ark, both
at Beth-shemesh and later, as we will find in the history?
10. What Psalm commemorates the capture and restoration of the
Ark?
11. ^ How does Samuel lead Israel, after twenty years, to repentance
and victory?
12. What cities did Samuel visit in his judgeship, and what can you
say of the judgments rendered by him?
IV
THE SCHOOLS OF THE PROPHETS
Scrip tur&s: All References
THE more important passages bearing on this subject
are I Sam. 3:1-4; 10:5, 9-12; 19:18-24. I Kings
18: 13 ; 19 : 18, 20, 21 ; 20: 35 ; H Kings 2 : 3-5 ; 4: 38;
6:1; I Chron. 29:29; H Chron. 9:29; 12:15; 13:22 and
other chapters in that book I do not enumerate. The last
one is Amos 7: 14, 15. The reader will understand that I
give these instead of a prescribed section in the Harmony.
These constitute the basis of this discussion.
Let us distinguish between the prophetic gift and the pro-
phetic office, and give some examples. Enoch, Noah, Abra-
ham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, his 70 elders, Balaam, Joshua,
and others before Samuel's time had the gift, but not the
office ; perhaps ve may except Moses as in a measure having
the office. After Samuel's time, David, many of his singers,
and particularly Daniel, had the gift in a high degree, but
not the office. Moreover, the high priests from Aaron to
Caiaphas in Christ's time, were supposed to have officially
the gift of prophecy — that is, to hear and report what the
Oracle said — but Samuel is the first who held the office.
The distinction between a prophet and a son of a prophet
is this : A son of a prophet was a candidate for the office,
ministering to the prophet, a disciple instructed by him, con-
secrated to the work, and qualifying himself to perform the
services of the office with the highest efficiency. A prophet
is one who, through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, speaks
or writes for God. In this inspiration he is God's mouth
31
82 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
or pen, speaking or writing not his own words, bat God's
words. This inspiration guides and superintends his speech
and his silence ; what is recorded and what is omitted from
the record. The gift of prophecy was not one of uniform
quantity, nor necessarily enduring. The gifts were various
in kind, and might be for one occasion only. As to variety
of kinds, the revelation might come in dreams or open
visions, or it might consist of an ecstatic trance expressed
in praise or song or prayer. If praise, song or prayer, its
form was apt to be poetic, particularly if accompanied by
instrumental music.
As to the duration of the gift, it might be for one occasion
only, or a few, or many. The Scriptures show that the
spirit of prophecy came upon King Saul twice only, and
each time in the form of an ecstatic trance. In his early
life it came as a sign that God had chosen him as king. In
his later life the object of it was to bar his harmful approach
to David. Paul, in I Cor. 12 and 14 inclusive, explains the
diversity of these gifts and their relative importance.
There are two periods of Hebrew history in which we
find clearest notices of the schools of the prophets, the proofs
of their persistence between the periods, and their influence
on the nation. The notices are abundant in the time of
Samuel, and in the time of Elijah and Elisha, but you have
only to study the book of Chronicles to see that the pro-
phetic order, as an office, continued through these periods
and far beyond. Later you will learn that in the time of
persecution fifty of these prophets were hidden in a cave
and fed regularly. The object of the enemy was to destroy
these theological seminaries, believing that they could never
lead the nation astray while these schools of the prophets
continued. Their object, therefore, was to destroy these
seats of theological education. Elijah supposed that every
one of them was killed except himself, but he was mistaken.
Samuel was the founder of the first school of the prophets,
SCHOOLS OF THE PROPHETS 33
and the Scripture which shows his headship is I Sam. 19 : 20,
where Saul is sending messengers to take David, and finally
goes himself and finds the school of the prophets, with
Samuel as its appointed head. The reason for such a school
in Samuel's time is shown, first, by an extract from "Kirk-
patrick's Commentary" on I Sam., page 33. He says :
"Samuel was the founder of the prophetic order. Indi-
viduals in previous ages had been endowed with prophetic
gifts, but with Samuel commenced the regular succession
of prophets which lasted all through all the period of the
monarchy, and did not cease until after the captivity. The
degeneracy into which the priesthood had fallen through
the period of the judges demanded the establishment of a
new order for the religious training of the nation.
"For this purpose Samuel founded the institutions known
as the schools of the prophets. The ^company of prophets'
at Gibeah (I Sam. 10: 10) and the scene at Ramah described
in I Sam. 19:18 fif., imply a regular organization. These
societies are only definitely mentioned again in connection
with the history of Elijah and Elisha, but doubtless con-
tinued to exist in the interval. By means of these the Order
was maintained, students were educated, and common
religious exercises nurtured and developed spiritual
gifts."
Kirkpatrick's is a fine commentary. The priests indeed
were instructors of the people, but the tendency of the
priesthood was to rest in external sacrifices, and to trust in
a mere ritualistic form of sacrifice. That is the trouble
always where you have a ritual. And after a while both
priest and worshiper began to rely upon the external type,
and on external conformity with the ritual. God needed
better mouthpieces than those, hence while in the past there
was a prophetic gift here and there, he now establishes the
prophetic school, or society, in which training, bearing upon
the prophetic office, should be continuous. The value of
S4 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
these schools of the prophets is also seen from Kirkpatrick,
page 34:
"The value of the prophetic order to the Jewish nation
was immense. The prophets were privy-counsellors of
kings, the historians of the nation, the instructors of the
people. It was their function to be preachers of righteous-
ness to rich and poor alike: to condemn idolatry in the
court, oppression among the nobles, injustice among the
judges, formality among the priests. They were the inter-
preters of the law, who drew out by degrees the spiritual
significance which underlay ritual observance, and labored
to prevent sacrifice and Sabbath and festival from becom-
ing dead and unmeaning forms. Strong in the unshaken
consciousness that they were expressing the divine will,
they spoke and acted with a fearless courage which no
threats could daunt or silence.
"Thus they proved a counterpoise to the despotism of
monarchy and the formalism of priesthood. In a remark-
able passage in his essay on 'Representative Government,'
Mr. John Stuart Mill attributes to their influence the prog-
ress which distinguished the Jews from other Oriental
nations. 'The Jews,' he writes, 'had an absolute monarchy
and hierarchy. These did for them what was done for
other Oriental races by their institutions — subdued them
to industry and order, and gave them a national life. . . .
Their religion gave existence to an inestimably precious
institution," the order of prophets. Under the protection,
generally though not always effectual, of their sacred char-
acter, the prophets were a power in the nation, often more
than a match for kings and priests, and kept up in that little
corner of the earth the antagonism of influences which is
the only real security for continued progress.' "
I was surprised the first time I ever saw that statement
from Mill. He was a radical evolutionist and infidel, but
a statesman, and in studying the development of statesman-
SCHOOLS OF THE PROPHETS 36
ship among the nations, he saw this singular thing in the
history of the Jews, unHke anything he saw anywhere else,
and saw what it was that led that nation, when it went into
backsliding, to repentance ; what power it was that brought
about the reformation when their morals were corrupted;
what power it was that was the real light of the nation and
the salt of the earth, and saw that it was this order of
prophets which was the conservator of national unity, purity
and perpetuity. I have the more pleasure in quoting that
passage, as it comes from a witness in no way friendly to
Christianity, just as when I was discussing missions I quoted
the testimony of Charles Darwin to the tremendous
influence for good wrought by the missionaries of South
America.
Particularly in this case of the schools of the prophets
we find their value, by noting very carefully the bearing on
the case under Samuel. We have already noticed the cor-
ruption of the priesthood under Eli, Hophni and Phinehas;
how the Ark was captured, the central place of worship
desecrated; how Samuel, called to the office of prophet,
needed assistance, and how he instituted this school of the
prophets. He gathered around him the brightest young
men of the nation and had the Spirit of God rest on them,
and in order that their instruction might be regular he
organized them into companies, or schools; he would go
from one to another, and these young "theologs" were
under the instruction of Samuel and for twenty years
worked as evangelists in making sensitive the national con-
science. It took twenty years to do it, and he could not
have done it by himself, but with that tremendous power,
the help he had, at the end of twenty years, he saw the
nation repentant and once more worshipping God. I am
for a theological seminary that will do that.
I give a modern example somewhat parallel : Mr. Spur-
geon was called to the city of London, when about nine-
36 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
teen years old, to be the pastor of the old historic church of
Dr. Gill, and in his evangelic preaching impressed a number
of men to feel that they were also called to preach (if your
preaching does not impress somebody else to preach, you
may be sure that you are not called to preach), and it
impressed the women and a multitude of laymen to do active
Christian service. Therefore, Mr. Spurgeon organized what
is called "The Pastoral College." He wouldn't let a drone
be in it ; he did not want anybody in it that was not spirit-
ually minded. In other words, he insisted that a preacher
should be religiously inclined, and should be ready to do
any kind of work.. He supported this institution largely
through his own contributions, although the men and women
all over England, when they saw what it was doing, would
send money for its support. I used to read the monthly
reports of the contributions and the list of donors that
accompanied them. Mr. Spurgeon determined to work a
revolution, just as Samuel did, and he used this school of
the prophets for that purpose. Consequently, hundreds of
young preachers belonging to that school of the prophets
preached in the slums of the city, in the byways, in the high-
ways, in the hedges, in the mines, on the wharves to the
sailors, and in the hospitals. Hundreds of laymen said,
"Put us to work," and he did ; he had push-carts made for
them, and filled them with books and so sent out over the
town literature that was not poisonous. He put the women
to work, and established, or rather perpetuated in better
form, a number of the almshouses for the venerable old
women who were poor and helpless, following out the sug-
gestion in H Timothy, and he erected a hospital. Then they
got to going further afield. They went all over England,
Wales, Scotland, Ireland, crossed over into the Continent,
crossed the seas to Australia, and the islands of the seas,
and into heathen lands. I have always said that Spurgeon's
Pastoral College came nearer to the Bible idea of a
SCHOOLS OF THE PROPHETS 37
seminary than any other in existence. There was not
so much stress laid on mere scholarship as on spiritual
efficiency.
It is important to note particularly what I am saying
now, because it was burnt into my heart as one of the rea-
sons for establishing a theological seminary. The nature of
that society was that it was a school. They left their homes
and came to stay at this school, with what we now call a
mess-hall in which all the theological students, by contribut-
ing so much, have their table in common. It was that way
then ; they had their meals in common. In preparing dinner
one day for the sons of the prophets, somebody put a lot of
wild gourds into the pot, and when they began tu eat it, one
of them cried out: ''Ah, man of God, there's death in the
pot!" Once I preached a sermon on this theme: "Wild
Gourds and Theological Seminaries," to show that to feed
the students in theological seminaries on wild gourds of
heresy is to put death in the pot; they will do more harm
than good, as they will become instruments of evil.
In determining what were their duties, we must consult
quite a number of passages. We gather from this passage
that they were thoroughly instructed in the necessity of
repentance, individually and nationally, and of turning from
their sins and coming back to God with faithful obedience.
That lesson was ground in them. They were taught the
interpretation of the spiritual meaning of the law, all its
sacrifices, its feasts, its types, and therefore when you are
studying a prophet in the O. T. you will notice how differ-
ent his idea of types and ceremonies from that of the
priests. They will tell you that to do without eating is
fasting, but the prophet will show that literal fasting is not
true fasting ; that there must be fasting at heart ; that there
must be a rending of the soul and not the garment as an
expression of repentance; that to obey God is better than
a formal sacrifice.
38 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
Another thing they were taught, which I wish to particu-
larly emphasize, was music, both vocal and instrumental.
In that school of the prophets started the tremendous power
of music in religion so wonderfully developed by David,
who got many of his ideas from associating with the schools
of the prophets. And from that time unto this, every
evangelical work, and all powerful religious work, has been
associated with music, both in the O. T. and in the N. T. ;
not merely vocal, but instrumental music. The heart of a
religion is expressed in its songs, and if you want to get at
the heart of your O. T. you find it in the hymn-book of the
Hebrew nation — the Psalter. It is indeed an interesting
study to see what has been the influence of great hymns
on the national life. There is an old proverb: "You may
make the laws of the people, if you will let me write their
ballads." Where is there a man capable of measuring the
influence of "How Firm a Foundation, Ye Saints of the
Lord," or "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing," or "Did
Christ O'er Sinners Weep?" There is a rich literature on
the influence of hymns on the life.
In the awful times of the struggle in England, Charles I
against the Parliament, one faction of the nation held to
ritualism, while the other followed spirituality, even to the
extreme of not allowing any form, not even allowing any
instruments of music. One of the finest stories of this
period is the account of a church that observed the happy
medium, using instrumental as well as vocal music, and
congregational singing as well as the use of the choir; every
Sabbath somebody's soul was melted in the power of that
mighty singing.
I can't sing myself, hut I can carry the tunes in my mind,
and I can be more influenced by singing than by preaching.
It was singing that convicted me of sin. It was on a waving,
soaring melody of song that my soul was converted.
I once knew a rugged, one-eyed, homely, old pioneer Bap-
SCHOOLS OF THE PROPHETS 39
tist preacher, who looked like a pirate until his religion
manifested itself, and then he was beautiful. I heard him
one day when a telegram was put into his hand stating that
his only son had just been killed by being thrown from a
horse. While weeping, his face became illumined; he got
up and clapped his hands and walked through that audience,
singing, ''O, Jesus, my Savior, to Thee I Submit."
John Bunyan wrote that song while in Bedford jail. They
had put him there to keep him from preaching, and looking
out through the bars of the dungeon he saw his poor blind
girl, Mary, begging bread, and he sat down and wrote that
hymn. The effect of the old preacher's singing John Bun-
yan's song was a mighty revival.
The relation of the schools of the prophets to modern
theological seminaries is this: The purpose was the same.
And so in N. T. times, Jesus recognized that if He wanted
to revolutionize the world by evangelism He must do it with
trained men. He did not insist that they be rich, great or
mighty men. He did not insist that they be scholars. He
called them from among the common people, and He kept
them right with Him for three years and a half, and dili-
gently instructed them in the principles and spirit of His
kingdom. He taught them in a variety of forms; in par-
ables, in proverbs, in exposition, illustrating His teachings
by miracles, and in hundreds of ways in order that they
might be equipped to go out and lead the world to Christ.
You cannot help being impressed with this fact: That the
theological seminaries in Samuel's time and in Christ's time
were intensely practical, the object being not to make
learned professors, but to fill each one with electricity until
you could call him a ''live wire," so that it burnt whoever
touched it.
This is why I called Samuel a great man, and why in a
previous discussion, counting the men as the peaks in a
mountain range, sighting back from Samuel to Abraham,
40 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
only one other peak comes into line of vision, and that is
Moses.
QUESTIONS
1. What the more important passages bearing on the schools of
the prophets?
2. Distinguish between the prophetic gift and the prophetic office
and illustrate by examples.
3. Distinguish between a prophet and a son of a prophet.
4. What is the meaning of prophet ?
5. In what two periods of Hebrew history do we find the clearest
notices of the school of prophets, what the proofs of their persistence
between these periods, and what their influence on the nation?
6. Who was the founder of the first school of the prophets?
7. What scripture shows his headship?
8. What was the reason for such school in Samuel's time?
^ 9. What was the value of these schools of the prophets, and par-
ticularly in this case, and what illustration from modern instances?
^ 10. What was the nature of that society, and what was the instruc-
tion given?
II. What the relation of the schools of the prophets to modern
theological seminaries?
SAMUEL AND THE MONARCHY, AND HIS
VINDICATION AS JUDGE
Scriptures: 1 Sam. 8:1-22; 12:1-25, Harmony
pp. 70 and 74, 75
1 LOGICALLY connect these two chapters so as to round
up Samuel's judgeship, and the intervening chapters
will be discussed later. The general subject for this
discussion is, "God through Samuel establishes the mon-
archy, and Samuel's vindication when he gives up the posi-
tion as judge." The general' purpose of this chapter is to
show the steps of transition from a government by judges
to a government by kings. The immediate occasion of the
change was the persistent demand of the people.
The grounds alleged by the people for the change were,
(i) that Samuel was old; (2) that his sons whom he made
judges walked not in his way, and these allegations were
strictly true. Samuel was old. He had made his sons
judges, as Eli had done in the case of his sons. These sons
were unworthy to hold office: "They did not walk in
Samuel's way, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes,
and perverted judgment." Samuel had no right to make
judges, nor to appoint his successor; that was Jehovah's
prerogative. He had retained these sons in office, though
unworthy, and had so far followed EH's example.
Nepotism has always been repugnant to the people.
It was a compliment to the late Senator Coke when his
kinsfolk complained that he had never gotten them an office
on the score of kindred.
4.1
42 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
Public office is a public trust, and not for distribution of
family patronage.
But their demand displeased Samuel. He did not dis-
pute the facts alleged, nor deny their grievance against his
sons, but he objected to the remedy proposed, namely:
"Give us a king to judge us." It would interest us to know
what Samuel would have done if they had merely demanded
the removal of his sons from office and Samuel's consent
to leave to God the appointment of his successor. But it is
a destructive remedy to burn a ship in order to get rid of
the rats. A change in the form of the government is not
always the best way to get rid of unworthy officials,
although the people will always demand it if from any
cause the legal methods of removal are barred. The people
usually are long-suffering, and often know not how to prac-
tically get rid of an evil by legal methods. Press them too
far, and a revolution comes — maybe a destructive one.
Samuel evinced his wisdom by carrying the case to Jeho-
vah in prayer; that is, before he answered the people, with
the following results :
1. Jehovah shows that the plausible grounds alleged by
the people for the change of government disguised their
real motive. It is characteristic of fallen human nature to
veil a motive in a plausible plea; for example, to defend
saloons on the plea of ''personal liberty," or that prohibition
"injures business."
2. These people meant, by rejecting Samuel, to reject
Jehovah. It was the theocracy to which in heart they ob-
jected. They wanted kings like other nations.
3. Jehovah directed Samuel to set before them plainly,
in protest, the manner of a king such as other nations had ;
to thus force them, if they persisted in their demand, to do
so with open eyes and with all of their motives unmasked.
This would prove that though they had a real grievance,
they were not seeking redress of that grievance, but making
SAMUEL AND THE MONARCHY 43
it a plausible plea for the dethronement of Jehovah, even
though their remedy brought grievances a thousand fold
worse than those from which they pretended to seek relief.
The character of an Oriental despot is given by Samuel
in his protest. Let us look at that in I Sam. 8:11-17: "This
will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you : He
will take your sons and appoint them unto him, for his
chariots, and to be his horsemen ; and they shall run before
his chariots; and he will appoint them unto him for cap-
tains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and he will set
some to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to
make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his
chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confec-
tionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will
take your fields, and your vinyeards, and your olive-yards,
even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And
he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards,
and give to his of^cers, and to his servants. And he will
take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your
goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his
work. He will take a tenth of your flocks ; and ye shall be
his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of
your king whom ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord
will not answer you in that day." I do not know anywhere
in Hterature a better picture of an Oriental despot than is
given in the language of Samuel.
The results, after Samuel showed them what it was to
have a king like other nations, were as follows : ( i ) With
their eyes open and their motives exposed, they demanded
a king like other nations. (2) Jehovah directed Samuel to
make them a king. ^'Sometimes God answers in wrath."
(3) But not to establish such a monarchy as they desired,
that is, like other nations, but a kingdom under a written
charter which retained the theocratic idea, the earthly king
to be only Jehovah's appointee and vice-gerent, subject to
44 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
Jehovah's Law, and guided in all things by Jehovah^s
prophets, and at all times liable to removal by Jehovah. So
God does not answer their request altogether. He makes a
king, but not such a king as they wanted. Concerning such
a ruler Geikie uses the following language:
"Such a ruler would necessarily stand in a unique posi-
tion. As only viceroy and representative of the true invis-
ible King, Jehovah, he must be pointed out beforehand by
special indications, and consecrated as to a sacred office.
That he should, moreover, have commended himself to the
nation by his qualities and deeds, was essential. Nor could
it be permitted him to reign like other Eastern kings, by his
mere pleasure; for the rights of Jehovah and those of his
people, as a nation of freemen, demanded equal respect.
He must, therefore, at all times, remember that he ruled
under a higher King, whose will, expressed in His revealed
law, was his absolute guide both in religion and ordinary
life; its transgression, in any particular, being self-destruc-
tion. But such a man would necessarily be in loving sym-
pathy with Him under whom he held his authority, to be
king after His heart ; a man truly religious ; obeying, not by
mere outward constraint, but from loving choice.
'Though nominally king, it was a condition of his rule
that he acted only as the prophet instructed him. Under the
strange theocratic constitution enforced by Samuel, he was
in fact only a puppet, moved by the prophet as he chose,
and forbidden to act in anything as a free agent. The only
counterpart to such a state of things in modern times, was
the titular rule of the Mikado in Japan, side by side with
the real Emperor, the Tycoon; the one a shadow king, the
other the actual sovereign power. In antiquity, strange to
say, we find parallel to Saul and Samuel among the Getae
of the century before Christ. In their wild home north and
south of the Danube, that people were ruled by a chief who
acted only as the servant of a holy man, without whom he
• SAMUEL AND THE MONARCHY 45
was not allowed to act in anything whatever. Still stranger,
the result of this extraordinary custom was the same as fol-
lowed the rule of Samuel in Israel. From the lowest weak-
ness and moral degeneracy the Getae roused themselves
under the leading of the holy man and the phantom king,
to a thorough and lasting reformation. Indeed, they so
-turned themselves to a nobler life that their national vigor
showed itself in a puritanical strictness and steadfast bra-
very, which carried their banners far and wide over new
territories, till their kingdom was infinitely extended. Once
recognized, such a complete subordination to the represen-
tative of the theocracy as was demanded from Saul might
become more easy to be borne, but in its early years the
strong, valiant warrior must have been sorely tried by
finding himself king in name, but in fact absolutely subor-
dinate in the most minute detail to the command of Samuel."
Using the word, '"puppet," Geikie is mistaken, since the
prophet never spoke except as God commanded, and for
a man to rule under the direction of God does not make
him a puppet. This kind of a kingdom was not repugnant
to Jehovah's plan, as set forth in their previous history and
law, and in their subsequent history.
1. In Gen. 17:16, in the covenant which God made
with Abraham, He promised that kings should be his
descendants.
2. In Dcut. 17:14-20: ''When thou art come unto the
land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess
it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king
over me, like all the nations that are around about me ;
thou shalt surely set him king over thee, whom Jehovah
thy God shall choose : one from among the brethren shalt
thou set king over thee ; thou mayest not put a foreigner
over thee, which is not thy brother. Only he shall not mul-
tiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to
Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses ; forasmuch
46 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
as Jehovah hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return
no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to him-
self, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly
multiply to himself silver and gold. And it shall be, when
he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall
write a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is
before the priests and the Levites : and it shall be with him,
and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he
may learn to fear Jehovah his God, to keep all the words
of this law and these statutes, to do them ; that his heart be
not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside
from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left ; to
the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he
and his children, in the midst of Israel."
We can tell whether kings of later date did this, for we
remember that Solomon took only seven hundred wives,
besides three hundred concubines. Every king, in their
subsequent history, who violated this kingdom charter, or
who refused to hear and obey Jehovah's prophet, was pun-
ished by Jehovah. And to the extent that when one of
them respected this charter, he was blessed of Jehovah, he
and the people with him.
Thus it is evident that the issue was not whether the ruler
should be called judge or king, but that Jehovah ruled, what-
ever the title of His earthly subordinate. The lesson is a
mighty one. Jehovah is King of kings and Lord of lords.
His law and authority are paramount over nations as well
as over individuals. His government extends over the un-
willing as well as the wiUing. To deny His rule is not to
vacate responsibility to His judgment. That is was imma-
terial whether the ruler was called judge or king, is illus-
trated by a relative passage from Pope's "Essay on Man."
The third epistle of that essay, line 303, says:
"For forms of government let fools contest ;
Whate'er is best administered is best."
SAMUEL AND THE MONARCHY 47
It is further evidenced that the people had to see and
admit their wrong in seeking to displace Samuel as judge
in I Sam. 12 : 1-25 which gives Samuel's address and con-
tains the following points :
1. They had to bear witness and have the testimony-
recorded, to the wisdom, purity, and fidelity of Samuel's
administration when he retired from the judgeship.
2. They had to admit that all great leaders in the past
were appointed by Jehovah, and that they had rebelled
against every one of them.
3. They had to accept this alternative, with a king put
over them; that is, if they and their king submitted to
Jehovah's rule according to the kingdom charter, then well ;
but if they turned away from Him, then condign punish-
ment came on them as on their rebellious fathers.
4. They had still to submit to Samuel as a prophet.
The words of Samuel were confirmed by this miracle: He
called their attention to the fact that it was harvest time,
when in ordinary cases it never rained. Then lifting his
face, he spoke to Jehovah for a sign, and instantly the
heavens were blackened, loud thunder rolled, lightning gored
the black bosom of the cloud, and a windstorm came up
to testify that God was speaking to them. The result was
that they felt and confessed the sin of their demand, and
implored Samuel's intercession that they might be forgiven,
to which he gave the following in reply :
1. He encouraged them not to despair on account of
their sins — that God was merciful — ^but to repent and do
better in the future.
2. That God, for His own name's sake, would never for-
sake that people.
3. That he himself would not sin by ceasing to pray for
them that their sins should be forgiven.
4. That he would, as prophet, continue to instruct them
in the good and right way.
48 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
5. That in view of the great things that God had done
for them, they should fear Him and serve Him in truth
with all their hearts; otherwise they would be consumed.
With other great events in their history, chapter 12 may
be compared thus:
1. With the farewell address of Moses, Deut. 29:1 —
31:5;
2. Joshua's farewell address, Joshua 24:1-28;
3. Paul's farewell address to the elders of the church at
Ephesus, Acts 20: 18-38.
4. On the score of patriotism, we may include Washing-
ton's farewell address, when he announced he would no
more be president. I once went to the city of Annapolis to
see a great picture, or painting, representing the scene of
Washington tendering his sword back to congress at the
close of the war, retiring from the office of commander-in-
chief. It is a marvelous painting. Supposed but far-distant
relatives of mine are in the picture — Charles Carroll and
his daughters. In a glass case to the right is the very suit
of clothes Washington wore on that day, including his spurs.
My old teacher made me memorize Washington's farewell
address.
Two great doctrines in Samuel's address need to be em-
phasized :
1. The ground of God's not forsaking His elect nation:
"Not on your account, but for His own name's sake," and
in this connection you must read Ezekiel 36 : 22-36, and
the whole of Romans 11. They both talk about God's
saving in one day the whole Jewish nation.
2. It is a sin not to pray for the forgiveness of sinners,
of which the following is a Texas illustration : There was
a certain man, preaching in many counties, taking the posi-
tion that no Christian was justifiable in praying for the
forgiveness of the sinner. I joined issue publicly, in the
pulpit and in the press, citing Samuel's doctrine : "God for-
SAMUEL AND THE MONARCHY 49
bid that I should sin in ceasing to pray for the forgiveness
of your sins." In that great discussion I referred to what
is called the "mourner's bench," stating that I had no par-
ticular fancy for what is called the ''mourner's bench;"
that a man could find Christ on the bench, on the floor,
behind the barn, or in the field, unless he made this point:
"I will do anything that God wants me to do to be saved,
except a certain thing;" that if he reserved any one point on
which he would not surrender to God, then he did not sur-
render at all ; and I insisted that in leaving out the "mourn-
er's bench" they would not leave out the mourning. I did
not object to leaving out the bench if they wanted to, but
if they did leave it out, I hoped they would not cease pray-
ing for sinners.
QUESTIONS
1. What the general purpose of this chapter?
2. What the immediate occasion of the change?
3. What the grounds alleged by the people for the change?
4. What can you say of these allegations ?
5. Why, then, did their demand displease Samuel?
6. In what did Samuel evince his wisdom?
7. What the results?
8. Describe the character of an Oriental despot as given in
Samuel's protest.
9. What were the results after Samuel showed them what it was
to have a king like other nations ?
ID. Prove that this kind of a kingdom was not repugnant to
Jehovah's plan, as set forth in their previous history and law, and in
their subsequent history.
11. If then it was immaterial whether the ruler was called judge
or king, cite a relative passage from Pope's "Essay on Man."
12. What further evidence that the people had to see and admit
their wrong in seeking to displace Samuel as judge?
13. How were the words of Samuel confirmed?
14. What was the result?
15. Analyze Samuel's reply.
16. With what other great events In their history may chapter 12
be compared?
17. What two great doctrines in Samuel's address need to be
emphasized?
18. What Texas illustration of the second doctrine?
VI
SAUL, THE FIRST KING
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 70-74, and
other references
I DEVOTE an extended discussion to chapters 8 to 12
because it is necessary to fix clearly in the mind the
nature of the kingdom established in order to interpret
correctly the history of the kings which follows. Without
this understanding we will break down in the interpretation
of even the first rejection of Saul, and with Jehovah's deal-
ing with every subsequent king. Before entering upon the
history of the first king, let us restate tersely the salient
points which define the Hebrew monarchy :
1. A government by kings was not an afterthought with
Jehovah, but was one of the predetermined stages of the
national development and a forecast preparatory to the set-
ting up of the Messianic spiritual kingdom.
2. Though Jehovah granted Israel's demand for a kingly
government superseding the previous rule by judges, he did
not establish such a monarchy as they desired, like that of
other nations.
3. The kingdom established had a written charter clearly
defining its nature, powers, and limitations, the basis of
which was given to Moses (Deut. 17:14-20) with subse-
quent enlargements by Samuel. This charter made the
written law, the Pentateuch, the constitution of the king-
dom. The king must make the law his Vade Meciim, and
the rule of his reign. There was not only this unalterable
written constitution, but to emphasize the retention of the
30
SAUL, THE FIRST KING 51
theocratic idea, the king must at all times hear and obey
the fresh messages from Jehovah, coming through His now
estabhshed order of the prophets, His mouthpieces and
penmen. This part of the charter turns a blaze of light on
the subsequent history.
4. The monarchy was not elective by the nation, through
corporate action of their great congregation or general as-
sembly, but each king must be appointed by Jehovah, and
that appointment designated through the prophet, Jehovah's
mouthpiece. Jehovah chooses the king, Jehovah's prophet
anoints him and presents him to the assembly for acceptance.
5. The monarchy was not hereditary in the modern
sense. A dynasty might be changed at Jehovah's sole
option, as from the house of Saul to the house of David,
and it did not follow that when a king's son succeeded him
that he should be the first-born; for example, the case of
Solomon. Whether in changing a dynasty, or designating
which son of a king should succeed his father, the living
prophet was Jehovah's medium of making known His will.
6. Neither king nor general assembly, nor both co-
joined, had the power to declare war, direct it when declared,
make peace, or contract alliances, except as Jehovah directed
through His living prophet.
7. By the law, and through the living prophet, the people
were safeguarded from the tyranny of the king. See the
case of Nathan's rebuke of David for the wrong against
Uriah, and Elijah's denunciation of Ahab concerning
Naboth's vineyard.
8. Particularly, the prophet spoke with all authority
from God in matters of religion, hedging not only against
idolatry but reliance upon formalism and ritualism, all the
time bringing out the spiritual meaning of the law and
calling for repentance and reformation. Therefore, no man
can interpret any part of the mere history of the Hebrew
monarchy apart from the section of the Psalter bearing
5^ THE HEBREW MONARCHY
on it, and the contemporaneous prophets. On this account
Wood's "Hebrew Monarchy," though not perfect in its
arrangement, excels "Crockett's Harmony" as a textbook.
A quotation from a prophet pertinent to the estabUsh-
ment of the monarchy considered in the preceding chapter
is Hosea 13:9-11: "It is thy destruction, O Israel, that thou
art against me, against thy help. Where now is thy king,
that he may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges, of
whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes ? I have given
thee a king in mine anger, and have taken him away in my
wrath."
There were several ways by which the people, as well as
the king, could get at the will of Jehovah aoart from the
written law, viz. :
1. By submitting a question to the Oracle abiding in
the Ark, to be answered by the high priest, wearing his
ephod, through the Urim and Thummim, I Sam. 23 : 8-12.
2. By appealing to the prophets, I Sam. 9 : 6-9.
3. By sacrifice and asking of signs ; as in the case of
Gideon, Judges 6: 17-21.
There are two passages, one showing the despair of an
individual, and the other showing the deplorable condition
of the nation, from whom, on account of aggravated sins,
God has cut off all means of communication with Him. In
one, Saul, the first king, in his later life thus bemoans his
condition : "And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines,
he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when
Saul inquired of Jehovah, Jehovah answered him not,
neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets," I Sam.
28:5. In the other, Hosea thus describes the pitiable con-
dition of the rebellious Israel: "For the children of Israel
shall abide many days without king, and without prince,
and without sacrifice, and without pillar, and without Ephod
or teraphim," Hosea 3:4.
SAUL, THE FIRST KING 53
SAUL, THE FIRST KING
Certain passages bear on part of the foregoing statement
of the nature of the kingdom. For instance, Jehovah chose
Saul to be the king, privately announcing him to His prophet,
and providentially bringing him in touch with this prophet
(I Sam. 9:15) and later before the great Assembly at
Mizpah He makes knov^n His choice to the people publicly
(I Sam. 10:17-21). Acting under Jehovah's direction, the
prophet prepares the mind of Saul for the high honor
(I Sam. 9:20-25). Then privately the prophet accounts
him as king, and then confirms to him his position by signs
(10:2-7). Then by an induement of the Holy Spirit he is
qualified for his office. Not converted, but qualified for
his office. Then the prophet brings about the public desig-
nation before the people, the general assembly at Mizpah
(I Sam. 10:17-21). Then the prophet arranges for his
recognition by the people in a subsequent general assembly
at Gilgal (Sam. 10:8 and 11:14, 15). Then the prophet
vacates his own office of judge, I Sam. 12.
It is easy to see from the text the details of which I need
not give, just what Jehovah does, just what the prophet
does, just what the people do, just what Saul does, and par-
ticularly the text shows how Jehovah prepares the people
to accept Saul — prepares the prophet first, then prepares
Saul and then the people.
The several stages showing the preparation of Saul are
intensely interesting. The first hint which Samuel gives to
Saul seemed to him an incredible thing, for he says, ''I
belong to the smallest tribe, and our family is a subordinate
one in that tribe." But still, it puts him to thinking. Then
Samuel gives him the post of honor in entertaining, and
that puts him to thinking. Then Samuel privately anoints
him as king, and that ceremony impresses him. Then Sam-
uel predicts three signs, the object of which is to satisfy
54 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
Saul thoroughly and to confirm the kingship in his own
mind; and particularly the last of the three, which was
that the Spirit of God would come upon him in the gift of
prophesying, and he would be changed into another man.
Note Saul's reticence: First, when his uncle asks him
where he had been, and he tells him about the prophet's
informing him that the asses have been found, but does not
say a word about the kingship; again, when after he is
publicly designated and some of the evil-minded people,
children of Belial, declared that they could not accept him
as king, because they saw no salvation in him, instead v^f
getting mad and answering in resentful language, Saul holds
his peace. He never says a word; he knows how to wait.
Again, we notice that notwithstanding all the things that
have occurred so far, when at that great gathering at Miz-
pah where he was to be publicly shown as king, Saul hides,
and when the question comes up and when the lot deter-
mined Saul as king, they ask where he is, and God said,
"He is hiding among the stuff" — the baggage.
I once preached a sermon from that text on God's discov-
ering a number of appointed men hiding with the stuff,
more concerned about their farming and the things of the
world than about the preaching of His Word. In the army
every soldier thought it disgraceful if he had to stay with
the baggage when the battle came on. Since he could be
pointed at as the soldier who had to stay with the stuff, he
wanted to be on the firing line.
I am showing you all these things to mark the progress
in Saul's own mind, and God's leading him step by step.
After a while he is wide awake enough for the kingly honor.
Now let us consider the meaning of apostasy, what is
essential in a particular case to prove the doctrine, and
what the application to Saul, and explain I Sam. 10:5, 6,
10:9, 10. Apostasy means that a regenerated man may be
finally and forever lost. In order to prove that doctrine by
SAUL, THE FIRST KING 55
a particular case, the evidence must be indubitable on two
points : First, that in the case selected there was first regen-
eration, and second, that this regenerated one was finally
and forever lost. The proof must be ample and unequivocal
at both ends — regeneration and damnation.
On these premises, we examine the particular case of Saul,
King of Israel. A failure of demonstration that he was a
regenerated man, or that he was finally lost, deprives the
doctrine of apostasy, as defined above, from any support
from the particular case of Saul. If the proof fall short
at either point, there is no need to consider the other.
Therefore, let us shorten matters by attention to one point
only : Was Saul a regenerated man ? In the case under con-
sideration, the passages relied upon to establish the conten-
tion that Saul was a truly regenerated man, a spiritual child
of God, are:
First, Samuel's promise, I Sam. 10:5, 6 : "Thou shalt
be turned into another man."
Second, the historian's declaration of the fulfillment of
the promise, I Sam. 10:9, 10: "God gave him another
heart." A careful examination of both passages (American
Standard Revision) settles conclusively that in the promise,
the Holy Spirit would in some sense come upon Saul, with
the result that he would be changed into another man, and
that in the fulfillment, the Holy Spirit did come upon him in
the sense promised, with the result that God gave him
another heart. If we accept the record, there is no doubt
here that the Holy Spirit exerted a power on Saul and that
consequently there was a change in him.
The questions to be determined are : What the nature of
the power exerted, and of the resultant change? My answer
is that the Spirit-power promised was the gift of prophesy-
ing, which throughout the scriptures is distinguished from
the grace of regeneration, and the change was according to
the power, and that the end, or purpose, exercised was not
56 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
to regenerate Saul, but is expressly called a sign, to assure
Saul's doubting mind that Jehovah had chosen him as king.
The incredible thing to Saul, which needed confirmation by
signs, was not that he would become a child of God by
regeneration, but that he whose tribe was so small, and the
position of whose family in that tribe was so low, should
be chosen of Jehovah to be king of all Israel. The nature
of the power exerted and the resultant change effected are
thus determined by their purpose.
The difference between the grace of regeneration and the
miraculous gift of the Spirit is expressed thus: The grace
of regeneration is not a sign, but the miraculous gift of the
Spirit is a sign, and is so regarded in both Testaments. In
the same way, the gift of the Spirit on the day of Pente-
cost was not to regenerate the apostles, all of whom but
Judas were already Christians, but to assure their hearts,
and, as signs, to accredit them to others.
In I Cor. 12-14 the whole matter is laid bare so that a
child can understand it. Very sharply, and at many points,
does Paul contrast these miraculous and temporary endue-
ments of the Spirit, given for signs, with the grace of regen-
eration expressed in the abiding fruits of faith, hope and
love. Regeneration is one thing in all cases. The miracu-
lous gifts of the Spirit were diverse. One of the recipients,
like Saul, might prophesy, another work miracles, another
speak with tongues, another interpret tongues.
The Spirit-power received on Pentecost did change the
apostles ; did, in an important sense, give them other hearts,
as we may learn from the coward, Peter, trembling before a
maidservant, and the Peter, bold as a lion, on Pentecost.
In the Corinthian discussion (I Cor. 12:14) Paul makes
clear, first, that faith, hope and love, the evidences and fruits
of regeneration, are superior in nature and more edifying
in exercise than the gifts of the Spirit, one of which only
Saul had ; second, that all these signs would cease, but that
SAUL, THE FIRST KING 57
regeneration, evidenced by faith, hope and love, would
abide.
If we look for evidences of regeneration in Saul's life, we
do not find them. If we look for evidences of a miraculous
Spirit-gift bestowed on him for assurance to him that Jeho-
vah wanted him to be king, and for a sign to others, we
do find them, and we also find that this gift of the Spirit was
withdrawn from him when becoming unworthy of office,
Jehovah no longer wants him as king. But, perhaps, the
strongest evidence in the Bible that Saul was not a regen-
erated man is to be found in God's contrast between Saul
and Solomon on this very point (see Revised Version of
II Sam. 7:13-16 and I Chron. 17:11-13). Here it is un-
equivocally taught that Saul was not a regenerated man,
but Solomon was. The regeneration of Solomon, as con-
trasted with Saul, appears in this :
1. God was Solomon's spiritual Father, and Solomon
was God's spiritual son.
2. Therefore, when he sinned, Solomon was chastised
as a child and not as an ahen.
3. Being a child, God's loving kindness would not be
withdrawn, as in the case of Saul.
Old John Bunyan was accustomed to say, ''Gifts make
a preacher, but grace makes a Christian." Saul had the
gift, but not the grace. To this already unanswerable argu-
ment we may add that a miraculous, because supernatural,
gift may be bestowed by the devil, who in no case can
regenerate. This power of Satan can of course be exercised
only through God's permission, and this permission is never
granted except to test men, or as a punitive judgment on
men who refuse to be guided by the Holy Spirit.
In Saul's own case, this permission was granted, as we
see from the result being as before, that Saul prophesied.
Read the passage and see. Later we will find a similar case.
The New Testament explains the ground of this permission
68 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
thus (see H Thess. 2:8-13) : ''And then shall be revealed
the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the
breath of His mouth, and bring to naught by the manifesta-
tion of His coming, even he whose coming is according to
the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying
wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them
that perish, because they received not the love of the truth
that they might be saved. And for this cause, God sendeth
them a working of error, that they should believe a lie, that
they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but
had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give
thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved of the
Lord, for that God chose you from the beginning unto
salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth."
And it is precisely on this account that John says (John
4:1), "Beloved, beheve not every spirit, but prove the
spirits, whether they be of God, because many false prophets
are gone out into the world.'' No miracle can accredit a
doctrine contrary to the written Word.
To make evident the application of this line of argument
to Saul's case, we are assured that these miracles, signs and
wonders, wrought by Satan and his demons, no matter
how plausible nor how convincing to their dupes, can never
possibly deceive the elect (see Mark 13:22 and Matt.
24:24). But the evil spirit's miracle causing Saul to
prophesy (I Sam. 16:14 and 18:10) did deceive him and
straightway led him to seek the murder of David, led him
to the slaughter of the priests of Nob (22:9-19), and led
him to irretrievable ruin, despair and suicide.
QUESTIONS
1. Why devote any extended discussion to chapters 8 to 12?
2. Even now, before entering upon the history of the first king,
restate tersely the salient points which define the Hebrew monarchy.
3. Cite a quotation from a prophet pertinent to the establishment
of the monarchy considered in the preceding chapter.
SAUL, THE FIRST KING 59
4. In what ways could the people, as well as the king, get at the
will of Jehovah apart from the written law ?
5. Cite two passages, one showing the despair of the individual,
and the other showing the deplorable condition of the nation, from
whom on account of aggravated sins, God has cut off all means of
communication with Him,
6. Cite, in order, certain passages bearing on part of the foregoing
statement of the nature of the kingdom.
7. What did Jehovah do, what did the prophet do, what did the
people do, and what did Saul do to prepare the people to accept Saul?
8. Describe Saul's reticence in accepting this high position of honor.
9. What is the meaning of apostasy, what is the essential feature
in a particular case to prove the doctrine, and what the application
to Saul, explaining I Sam. 10 : 5, 6 ; 10 : 9, 10?
10. What is the difference between the grace of regeneration and
the miraculous gift of the Spirit? Illustrate by New Testament
instances.
11. What, then, do we find in Saul's life, and what the strongest
evidence in the Bible that he was not regenerated ?
12. What was Bunyan's saying, and what added argument?
13. What is the purpose of God's permission of the devil to bestow
miraculous gifts, and what New Testament testimony?
14. What the difference in effect of these miracles of the devil
on the saved and the unsaved, and how does Saul's case illustrate?
VII
SAUL, THE FIRST KING
(Continued)
Scriptures: Same as in preceding chapter
IT is contended by some that the reference to Saul's
"another heart" is equivalent to the "new heart" of
Ezek. 36 : 26, to which we may safely reply that the
''another heart" given to Saul was not equivalent to the
passage cited in Ezekiel. But when we come to Saul's
death, in the history, to sum up his character, we will not
be able to classify him with Judas, though there are some
points similar, particularly in that both were led by a domi-
nant evil spirit to despair and self-destruction. Saul, in
many ways, was a finer man than Judas, leaving behind
precious memories of some deeds and traits which evoked
the gratitude of the men of Jabesh-gilead, the unswerving
attachment of several tribes, and the beautiful eulogy of
David. Nothing Hke these do we find in the low, avaricious,
treacherous life of Judas.
Believers in apostasy use the life of Saul to prove apos-
tasy, and I do not wonder that they take this case as the
basis of their argument to sustain the doctrine of apostasy,
since it is the most plausible in the Bible, but if this case
fails in demonstration they may not hope for support in
any other. But they may ask, "What then does Paul mean
in Gal. 5:4: * Ye are fallen away from grace ?' " To which
we again reply that the scriptural phrase, "Ye are fallen
away from grace," as used by Paul in Gal. 5:4, does not
60
SAUL, THE FIRST KING 61
imply that real Christians, the truly regenerate, may be
finally lost, but that those once accepting the doctrine of
salvation by grace, and then returning to a doctrine of sal-
vation by works, have fallen away from grace. They have
turned from one doctrine to the opposite one, as often hap-
pens in practical life, without meaning that either the original
acceptance was regeneration, or the falling away from it'
was final. In Paul's meaning of the phrase, men may fall
from grace.
We have now seen how Jehovah prepared His prophet
for designation of Saul as king, how He prepared Saul for
the great honor, and how He prepared the people to accept
Saul. Before advancing in the history, we need to under-
stand more particularly certain matters in the record already
so tersely covered, particularly the steps of the people's
preparation to accept Saul, and how gradually the accept-
ance was, in a glorious climax, made complete:
1. The gift of prophesying came upon Saul, enduing
him for service, and this being in the company of the school
of the prophets, prepared the mighty prophetic order to
recognize him as God's man. As this enduement of power
came on him also in the presence of many of the people, it
was designed to accredit him to them. But they were more
startled by the prodigy than they were made ready to accept
him. There is something scornful in their saying, which
became a proverb : "Is Saul also among the prophets ?'*
Their scorn is somewhat mitigated by a* bystander's ques-
tion: "Who is their father?" meaning, "What in their
descent puts the prophets above Saul that you should won-
der at the bestowal on him of the prophetic gift?" God
bestowed it, and not on account of family position.
2. Jehovah's choice of him by an extraordinary method
in the great congregation at Mizpah as the man for the
place out of all Israel. As this method of showing divine
selection had availed in Joshua's time in infallibly point-
62 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
ing out Achan, the one criminal out of millions (Joshua
7: 14-18), and would again avail in David's time (I Sam.
16: 12), it ought to have been equally convincing in showing
Jehovah's choice of a king. It did convince most of the
people, who shouted their acceptance in a phrase that has
gone round the world: *'God save the King!" But not all
were satisfied, for certain sons of Belial said, ''How shall
this man save us?" And they despised him and brought
no present. You must note that the phrase, ''sons of Belial,"
retains the meaning already established (I Sam. 1:16;
2:12). Belial is a proper name, meaning the devil, and
quite in keeping with their nature, the devil's childrea will
not accept Jehovah's choice of a king.
3. The spirit of Jehovah comes upon Saul and demon-
strates his fitness for the high honor by leading to the deliv-
erance of Jabesh-gilead. It is not enough to shout, "God
save the king," but will you fall in line and follow the king?
In his call to war, Saul rightly associates his name with
Samuel's (I Sam. 11:7) and "the dread of the Lord fell
on all the people, and they came out as one man."
This practical demonstration of Saul's fitness wrought
unanimity in his acceptance, and led the people to demand
of Samuel the death of those who had refused Jehovah's
choice, Saul's wisdom again appearing in refusing to stain
the glorious beginning of his reign with the blood of political
executions.
4. The people now being prepared in mind to accept
Jehovah's choice, under divine direction, they were formally
and officially committed by the ratification at Gilgal in
solemn assembly, with appropriate sacrifices, and great re-
joicing of both king and people, followed by Samuel's sur-
render of the office of judge. This meeting at Gilgal is the
dividing official line of separation between the period of the
judges and the period of the monarchy.
Before, we have only shown the steps toward transition.
SAUL, THE FIRST KING 63
The scene of the consummation was most fitting, for at
Gilgal the period of the pilgrimage ended and the period of
the conquest commenced, and at Gilgal the distribution of
a part of the land took place officially, ending, in part, the
conquest period of the judges.
5. Jehovah, king, prophet, and general assembly are in
full accord, the functions of all clearly distinguished and
defined. Happy beginning of the monarchy ! The later his-
tory will show wherein, when, and how the glorious charter
of the kingdom is violated by prophet, king or people. We
will find a sad history, enlivened here and there by deeds
of heroes and song of bards. But the picture will gather
deepening shadows until the eclipse is completed by the
downfall of the monarchy. The chief heroes will be the
prophets, a few kings will be illustrious, and very rarely,
a priest.
The distinction in the meaning of the words "seer" and
"prophet," used as synonymous in I Sam. 9:7, is this:
"Prophet" has the larger meaning, including all the import
of "seer." Strictly speaking, the word "seer" refers only
to one method of receiving revelation, i.e., in vision. A
prophet not only had the gift of vision, but was in all
respects the mouthpiece, or penman, of Jehovah in teaching,
reforming, or recording. He was by inspiration God's
direct legatee, ambassador, or representative, with authority
above king or people.
There is a humorous play on the common version of
I Sam. 10 : 14 which a deacon once made to an indiscreet
preacher, saying, "My dear sir, if you keep on shooting off
your mouth half-cocked, you will presently find yourself
where Saul perceived his father's asses to be." The words
of the text in that version are: "We saw they were no-
where."
64 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
saitl's reign after the ratification in gilgal
I Sam. 13:1 says, "Saul was forty years old when he
began to reign, and when he had reigned two years over
Israel, Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel," etc.
His personal appearance is described in I Sam. 10 : 23, 24 :
"From his shoulders upward he was higher than the people.
None of them were like him." Hence the proverb : "Head
and shoulders above his fellows." We will find later that
his armour was too large for David. The conditions of his
reign were hard. At this time Israel was dominated by the
Philistines on the Southwest, assailed by Amalek on the
South, by Ammon, Moab and Edom on the Southeast, and
by Zobah, or Syria, on the Northeast, but against all these
at times Saul waged a victorious war. Besides this his
resources were limited. He had no standing army, no arms,
no equipment, no public treasury except spoils gathered in
battle, and the whole country was impoverished by raids
and invasions of his many enemies. I Sam. 13 : 19-23 shows
the pitiable condition of the people as to artificers, imple-
ments of industry and arms: "Now there was no smith
found throughout all the land of Israel ; for the Philistines
said. Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears: But
all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen
every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his
mattock; yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the
coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to set the
goads. So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there
was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of the
people that were with Saul and Jonathan; but with Saul
and with Jonathan his son was there found." This state-
ment has its great lessons.
No people can become or remain safe and prosperous
who are dependent on other nations for mechanicians, manu-
factured goods, and their means of transportation. This
SAUL, THE FIRST KING 65
was illustrated in the great controversy and war between
the States. During the controversy there appeared a book
by a renegade North CaroHnian, entitled: "Helper's Im-
pending Crisis," in which he thus pictured the South's
unpreparedness for war, and the certain disasters which
would, in the case of war, necessarily overtake it. I never
read it but one time, and that was when I was a child, but
it was burnt into my mind so that I can repeat it now :
"A Southern man gets up in the morning from between
Northern sheets, having slept on a Northern mattress, rest-
ing on a Northern bedstead, washes his face in a Northern
bowl, dries his face on a Northern towel, brushes his hair
and teeth with Northern brushes, puts on Northern clothes ;
goes into his dining room and sits down at a Northern din-
ing table covered by a Northern table-cloth, on which are
Northern cups, saucers, plates, knives, forks, and in a
Southern hog-country eats Northern bacon. Then he goes
out and hitches his horse to a Northern plow ; or to a North-
ern buggy ; or having tied around his neck a Northern cra-
vat, he goes to pay his address to his girl, who is dressed in
Northern dimity and calicoes, and when he comes to die,
he is wrapped in a Northern shroud, his grave is dug with a
Northern spade and mattock, and the only thing he has
which is Southern is the hole in the ground where he is
buried."
Now, as a consequence, just as soon as the war broke out,
having no factories, having no railroads running east and
west, having no control of the land and water transporta-
tion, in six months we were on the verge of starvation. I
saw several companies of Sibley's brigade start to New
Mexico armed with lances — old-fashioned lances, a long,
dressed pole with a rude point to it. They took the old-
fashioned flint and steel muskets, and fixed them so they
could use percussion caps; they did not have a breech-
loading gun. Having no paper factories, the newspapers
66 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
were being printed within six months on wall-paper — the
printing on one side and coloring on the other. I paid $22
in Mexican silver for a hatful of coffee that was smuggled
over from Mexico (I could not bear to see my mother do
without coffee), but all over the South they were drinking
parched sweet potatoes for coffee, and using sassafras tea,
and catnip tea, and when they were sick they used boneset
tea, and woe to the man who had to take it !
// all this is true among nations, you can understand what
I meant when I said woe to the South, where the people
have the views of sound doctrine, when it sends its preach-
ing implements to a Northern radical-critic grindstone in
order to put on point or edge. I tell you, we ought never
to cease praying that God will bless our Southwestern Sent-
inary, and establish it in the hearts of the people.
From a comparison of chap. 13:1, 2, and 14:47-52 we
must suppose:
1. That the text of 13: i is defective. Note the differ-
ence in the rendering between the common version and the
revised version — a very considerable difference.
2. That according to the summary given in 14:47-52,
there is no record of the details of many of Saul's cam-
paigns.
3. As Saul was a young man when made king, and now
comes before us with a grown son, Jonathan, already a
hero, we must suppose that for years after he became king
his reign was prosperous, and according to the charter of
the kingdom. In this prosperous part of his reign must
always be placed to Saul's credit the fact that under the
most trying conditions he proved himself a great hero in
war against mighty odds, while possessing amiable char-
acteristics which endeared him to his family, to the people
and to Samuel. According to David's eulogy he found the
women of his people in rags and clothed them in scarlet,
and put on their apparel ornaments of gold. He taught an
SAUL, THE FIRST KING 67
unwarlike, undisciplined militia to become mighty warriors.
His whole Hfe was one series of battles, beating back the
enemies who were pouring in on every side. Then consid-
ering these odds against him, his only hope lay in strict
obedience to the charter of his kingdom, thus keeping
Jehovah as his friend. He never began to fall until he
made God his enemy.
QUESTIONS
1. Is the reference to Saul's "another heart" equivalent to the "new
heart" of Ezek. 36 : 26? In what was Saul like Judas, and in what was
he unlike him ?
2. Why do believers in apostasy use the life of Saul to prove
apostasy?
3. What does Paul mean in Gal. 5:4: "Ye are fallen away from
grace?"
4. What, particularly, were the steps of the people's preparation
to accept Saul, and how gradually was the acceptance, in glorious
climax, made complete?
5. Distinguish in meaning the words *'seer" and "prophet," used as
synonymous in I Sam. 9:7.
6. What humorous play on the common version of I Sam. 10: 14
did a deacon once make to an indiscreet preacher?
7. How old was Saul when he began to reign?
8. What was his personal appearance ?
9. What were the hard conditions of his reign?
10. What his limited resources?
11. Recite the passage that shows the pitiable condition of the
people as to artificers, implements of industry and arms.
12. What great lessons are derivable from this statement?
13. What must we suppose from a comparison of chap. 13 : i, 2,
and 14 : 47-52 ?
14. In this prosperous part of his reign, what must always be placed
to Saul's credit?
15. Considering these odds against him, wherein lay his only hope ?
VIII
THE PASSING OF SAUL AND HIS DYNASTY
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 75-79
THERE are real difficulties, puzzling to a Bible stu-
dent, in I Samuel, 13 and 14. These difficulties are
of three kinds : first, in the text ; second, in the order
of events ; third, in determining the length of Saul's reign.
The first difficulty of the text is in the first sentence, 13: i.
According to the historian's formula elsewhere, introducing
the account of a reign, we would naturally expect this
initial sentence to tell us two facts: Saul's age when he
began to reign, and the duration of his reign, somewhat
thus : "Saul was thirty years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned over Israel forty years," but our present
Hebrew text cannot be so rendered, nor can we satisfac-
torily make out the text from a comparison with the ver-
sions. The Hebrews designated numbers by letters, hence
it is quite easy in the matter of numbers for a mistake to
creep in. In the Hebrew of 13:1 Saul's age is not stated.
When the versions attempt to supply the number from inter-
nal evidence, it amounts only to conjecture. The unrevised
Septaugint omits that first verse altogether, but a revision
of that version gives it, and makes it read that Saul was
thirty years old when he began to reign. The American
Standard Revision fills the blank with forty years as his
age when he began to reign, and connects verse i with
verse 2. The Jew, Isaac Leeser, in his English version,
renders that first verse thus : "When Saul had reigned one
year — and two years he reigned over Israel," which leaves
66
THE PASSING OF SAUL 69
the whole verse "up in the air," with two gaps in it. Other
Jews render it thus: "Saul was the son of a year when he
began to reign, and when he had reigned two years he
chose for himself, etc." This rendering could be made to
mean that Saul was as inexperienced, or as simple, as a
year-old child when he commenced to reign, but after he
had reigned two years he began to assume the air of royalty
by organizing a small standing army as a bodyguard, or as
a nucleus around which militia levies could be assembled
in time of war. In the judgment of the author, there is
no direct connection between verse i and verse 2, nor is he
able to remove the difficulty. It seems probable that that
first sentence should follow the usual formula of the his-
torian, and that if we had the true text, it would so appear.
The second text-difficulty is in 13:5, which gives the
Philistines "thirty thousand chariots," a number of chariots
which seems to be so incredible, so unnecessary, and so
wholly out of proportion to other departments of their
army, that one is disposed to imagine that some copyist
erred in writing the Hebrew letters by which they express
the number of chariots. Probably the number was one
thousand.
The third text-difficulty is the word, "Ark," in 14 : 18.
We would naturally conclude from I Sam. 7: i, 2, and from
I Chron. 13 : 1-14 that the Ark remained at Kirjath-jearim
until its removal to Jerusalem by David. Moreover, David
says expressly, "We sought not unto the Ark in the days of
Saul." The best explanation of this difficulty is that the
Septuagint, with a better Hebrew text before it, renders the
verse thus: "And Saul said to Ahijah, Bring hither the
Ephod. For he wore the Ephod at that time before Israel."
In determining the order of events we find that the para-
graph, I Sam. 14:47-52, gives a summary of Saul's wars
and of his family, and inasmuch as the historian gives no
details of at least three of these wars, to wit: the war with
70 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
Ammon, with Edom and with the kings of Zobah, i.e., Syria,
the difficulty is to know just where these wars should be
placed. Evidently there is no place for them after the
beginning of this section, and if they be put before this
section, then time must be allowed for them, as well as for
the arrival to mature age of Saul's sons and daughters.
In determining the duration of Saul's reign, the difficulty
in the Hebrew text of 13:1 forces us to rely upon one
statement only, that by the Apostle Paul, Acts 13:21, who
says: "Saul reigned by the space of forty years." In an
edited edition of Josephus' ''Antiquity of the Jews," Book
VI, last sentence of that book, the reading is : "Now Saul,
when he had reigned eighteen years while Samuel was alive,
and after his death 2 [and 20], ended his Hfe in this man-
ner." The words "and 20" in brackets must be regarded
as an interpolation, being out of harmony with the author's
heading of the sixth book, which assigns only thirty-two
years from the death of Eli to the death of Saul. Leaving
out the bracketed words, Josephus says that Saul reigned
18 years while Samuel lived, and two years after he died.
The author stands by Paul's statement that he reigned by the
space of forty years, and contends that this harmonizes best
with all of the elements of the history. The history un-
questionably makes Saul a young man when he began to
reign. There must be time for all of the wars mentioned
in the summary, 14 : 47-52, and for Saul's children, sons and
daughters, to become grown. This 13th chapter presents
Jonathan a grown man and a valorous captain. Therefore
the author assumes that between chapters 12, when Saul's
reign properly commenced, and 13, we must allow an inter-
val of perhaps twenty years, and we must conclude, from
the success of Saul in waging victorious war with Ammon,
Edom and the kings of Zobah, or Syria, 14:47^ that such an
interval must be provided for in the order.
It is easy to understand why the historian gives no details
THE PASSING OF SAUL 71
of these wars. His object is to bring us quickly to that part
of Saul's reign in which, by two great decisive acts, he vio-
lates the kingdom charter. For years, then, we presume
that Saul was faithful to that charter, prosperous and suc-
cessful in every direction, but this period of prosperity is
followed by a triumph of the Philistines, who so dominated
the land as to bring about the conditions as described in our
text, I Sam. 13 : 6, 7, 19-23, and it is at this period of national
disaster that our 13th chapter commences the story. Indeed,
by this disaster God providentially prepares the way for an
account of Saul's first great test, which could not come
except under hard conditions.
We may count it a difficulty to give the proper rendering
of I Sam. 13:3, which says that "Jonathan smote the garri-
son of the Philistines that was in Geba." Very able scholars
contend that this word should not be rendered "garrison"
but "monument," the Philistines having erected a monument
there as a memorial of their domination over the land. An-
other scholar contends that it means an officer who at that
point collected the tribute from the subjugated Hebrews, but
none of the versions so render the word, and so we will
count that word to mean garrison.
Another line of interpretation, as to the order of events,
is advocated by mighty minds, including Edersheim, for
whose wide range of learning, splendid scholarship, piety,
reverence, and especially the gift of spiritual interpretation,
the author has a profound respect. According to Eder-
sheim, whose arguments sustaining his contention are so
weighty, the boldest might well hesitate to claim dogmatic-
ally the rightfulness of the order we have just considered,
and according to others, including the American Standard
Revisers, Saul was forty years old when he began to reign ;
was a man of family, his oldest son, Jonathan, being a
grown man, and there is no interval between the history in
chap. 12 and the history in chap. 13, but it is continuous;
72 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
therefore the wars, 14:47, with Ammon, Edom and Syria,
follow the victory over the PhiUstines recorded in chap. 13,
and the hard conditions under the domination of the Philis-
tines recorded in chap. 13:6, 7, 19-23 were the conditions
at the beginning of Saul's reign. This would place the test
which decided the dynasty at the beginning of his reign, and
with propriety place later the second test, in the case with
Amalek, resulting in his personal rejection. With this order,
Josephus agrees. The serious objections to this theory of
order are thus met by its advocates. They admit that the
record in chap. 9 declares Saul to be a young man when he
met Samuel, and that it is a part of a young man's duty to
be sent off to find the stray stock of his father, but argue
that among Hebrews even a middle-aged man with a family
is called a young man and is under the direction of his
father, and that the preceding record nowhere gives Saul's
age, and that the only place where we would expect to find
it — chap. 13 : i — the numeral expressed in a Hebrew letter
is wanting, and must be supplied by conjecture based on the
context. In meeting Paul's express statement that Saul
reigned by the space of forty years, they say that it is not
in the line of Paul's thought to be exact, and that his forty
years is expressed in round numbers. These replies to the
objections are not satisfactory, but are here given for what
they are worth.
The hero of this war with the Philistines was Jonathan,
Saul's brilliant son. He it is that brings on the war by smit-
ing the Philistines' garrison at Gibeah, and he it is that
decided the war in the great battle of Michmash. Saul's
part of the whole story is an undignified one. The follow-
ing are the events, in order, leading up to his failure under
the first test to which he was subjected : It will be remem-
bered that Saul was made king with the special view of de-
livering Israel from the Philistines, and that having only
three thousand men they were divided into two small corps,
THE PASSING OF SAUL 73
occupying strategically the best positions of defense against
the Philistines. Then when Jonathan's exploit brought on
the war by making Israel odious to the Phihstines, they
assembled the largest and best appointed army they ever
sent to the field, and took post at Michmash. Saul sounded
the trumpet alarm designed to bring all of the able-bodied
men of Israel to his side. The place of assembly was Gilgal,
which Samuel had appointed with the express command
that when assembled they were to remain seven full days
until he himself arrived, and when he had offered appro-
priate sacrifices, the war would be undertaken under Jeho-
vah's direction.
But the people having no arms, and frightened at the vast
and well equipped army of the Philistines, failed to respond.
Some of them went into the caves in the sides of the moun-
tains. Multitudes of them fled across the Jordan into
Gilead. Saul's own bodyguard did not all assemble, and in
the days of waiting began to desert, so that he was left with
a handful of men, liable at any time to be cut off and de-
stroyed by the mighty army of the Phihstines. In this case
it tried his patience sorely to wait seven days, his army
melting, the panic increasing, the Philistine army near and
threatening.
This was the condition of a test of his character. It is
certain that unless there could be assurance from Jehovah
that He would lead and manifest His power, the panic would
increase. Samuel designedly delayed his coming until the
last hour of the appointed seven days. Saul had waited
until late in the seventh day; Samuel had not come. It
seemed to him that he must, by sacrifices, invoke the help
of Jehovah. As he puts it himself, under these conditions :
"I forced myself to make the offerings to Jehovah." Before
the offerings were completed, Samuel appeared, but Saul
had already sinned.
It was an express stipulation of the charter of the king-
74 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
dom that the king must wait upon Jehovah's will as ex-
pressed through His prophet. Only in this way could the
kingdom endure. If the king acted on his own wisdom, as
the kings of other nations, then it was certain he would
fail. His only hope was to abide absolutely with that pro-
vision of the charter which acknowledged the theocratic idea
that the earthly king was subordinate to the divine King.
The penalty of his failure in this test was not his personal
rejection as king, but it was the rejection of his dynasty.
He himself remained king, but the monarchy could not be
transmitted to his children. The kingly authority was to be
removed from Saul's family, and given to another
family.
The events after this failure of Saul were as follows:
First, the word of Jehovah through His prophet having
been despised, Samuel leaves Saul, the panic increases, his
followers decrease in number, he is left with a handful of
men to take the most defensive position ; then, as has been
stated, it was Jonathan who delivered the people from this
threatening condition. The prophet being gone, Jonathan
asked Jehovah to designate by a sign whether he should
attack the Philistine host. The sign was a very simple one.
Jonathan having reconnoitered the enemy's position, taking
with him only his armorbearer, found that they could be
approached from the mountain side, and the test was, when
he came within sight and hearing of the Philistines if they
said, ''Come up to us," instead of " "Remain where you
are and we will come up to you," that was to be God's sign
that he should make the fight. Hence he and his armor-
bearer alone commenced the fight, killing twenty of the
enemy. They fell into a panic, supposing a mighty army
to be behind these two men, and as their army was composed
of troops from several nations, these in the confusion began
to fight each other. Moreover, a large number of Hebrews,
who had hidden in the caves of the mountain, came out and
THE PASSING OF SAUL 75
joined in the attack on the PhiHstines, so that their whole
army was in inextricable confusion.
Saul, from his lookout, perceiving the confusion in the
PhiHstine army and hearing the sound of battle, and still
wishing to be guided by Jehovah, turned to the high priest
present with his men, saying, ''Bring hither the Ephod and
enquire of Jehovah what we shall do." The tumult con-
tinuing, he then restrained the priest before he had time to
give Jehovah's answer through the Urim and Thummim,
and rushed headlong to the battle. So, in no respect acting
under divine orders, but on his own wisdom, he enjoins that
none shall stop to taste food until the Philistine army is
entirely destroyed.
Two evil results come from this rash order. First, Jona-
than being in the front of the battle and not having heard
it, under the fatigue and hunger of a hard day's work, sees
a honeycomb in the rock. He delays only to touch the
honeycomb with the rod in his hand and put it to his mouth,
and somewhat refreshed goes on in pursuit, thus unwittingly
bringing himself under the curse of his father's vow. The
second evil was that the people who had heard the com-
mand, at the end of the day, famished with hunger, took
from the spoils of the battle and butchered the animals for
meat, without complying with the law, which forbids an
Israelite to eat blood. This second wrong being reported
to Saul, he seems to be convinced that somebody had sinned,
and after stopping the unlawful method of eating food, he
appeals to the high priest to determine for him who had dis-
obeyed his order. The lot disclosed that it was Jonathan,
who frankly avowed it. Saul announced his death warrant,
but the people refused to permit the death of the hero who
had gained them the battle.
The radical critics of the Bible story consider it a light
offense, that a man with authority as king, under Saul's hard
conditions, after waiting till the seventh day was nearly
76 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
ended for Samuel to come, should proceed to enquire the
divine will, apart from the prophet of God. To this we
reply, that, while all of these hard conditions are admitted,
and while the natural effect of these conditions upon any
man placed under the responsibility of a leader is also ad-
mitted, these very conditions were essential to the test, if the
theocratic idea of the charter is to be preserved. It made
no difference how hard the conditions, nor how many should
desert, nor how few remained, nor how strong the enemy,
nor how formidable their equipments, if only Jehovah be
with them ; and it made no difference how strong an army
Saul might have, nor how few in comparison with the
enemy, nor how much superior his own equipments to that
of the foe, he was doomed to failure if Jehovah was against
him. Therefore, when, through fear and impatience, he
deliberately violated the central thought in the charter of the
kingdom, it was well that the kingdom should pass to an-
other family, and not be perpetuated in his house.
It is an interesting fact that while God had withdrawn
His prophet from Saul, there yet remained two methods of
ascertaining the divine will : the one employed by Jonathan
by asking a sign from God, the other through the high priest
and the Ephod. In a wavering kind of way, Saul clings to
the second method. He still on occasion seeks the mind of
Jehovah through the high priest, but never unless he is in
extremity. You must distinguish between the two tests of
Saul. The first test which we have considered, settled the
question of the dynasty alone; the next test to be considered
in the next chapter, settles the question personally for Saul,
as to whether he is to remain king.
The last paragraph of chap. 14 : 47-52 is a generic account
of Saul's reign, naming his various wars waged victoriously,
his family relations, and reciting two facts characteristic of
his reign, namely, (i) that sore war with the Philistines pre-
vailed all his days; (2) all through his reign he was accus-
THE PASSING OF SAUL 77
tomed to add valiant men of whatever nation, to his body-
guard. But this custom of Saul's was not peculiar to him.
David followed his example, and hundreds of monarchs
since his time, some of them limiting altogether to for-
eigners, as the Janizaries of the Sultan of Turkey; the Scot-
tish Archers, the Swiss Guard, and the Irish Brigade of
French Kings, the Italian Corps of Charles of Burgundy,
the famous Potsdam giants of the King of Prussia, and
many others.
This summary of Saul's family omits the mention of Riz-
pah, Saul's concubine, his two children by her, and his
grandchildren, sons of Jonathan and Michal. By way of
anticipation of the history, and to show that the sins of the
fathers are visited upon the children, and further to show
that in a great man's downfall many are dragged down with
him, let us notice the tragic fate of the various members
of Saul's family. Abner, Saul's cousin and general, was
murdered by Joab. Saul himself, with three of the four
sons by his wife, including the heroic Jonathan, perished in
battle with the Philistines. His fourth son by his wife was
assassinated ; his two sons by his concubine Rizpah, and the
five sons of his daughter Michal, born after she was taken
from David, were all hanged to appease one of Saul's sins ;
Jonathan's son was crippled by his nurse, and afterwards
defrauded of half his inheritance.
Note the text for a practical sermon in this section, Saul's
words, "I forced myself," 13: 12.
QUESTIONS
1. What real difficulties, puzzling to a Bible student, do we find
in I Samuel 13 and 14?
2. State the principal text-difficulties, with an explanation of each.
3. What difficulty in determining the order of events ?
4. What the difficulty in determining the duration of Saul's reign ?
5. What other line of interpretation, as to order of events, is
advocated by mighty minds, including Edersheim?
6. Who was the hero of this war with the Philistines?
78 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
7. State in order the events, leading up to Saul's failure under the
first test to which he was subjected.
8. What was the penalty of Saul's failure in this test?
9. State the events after this failure of Saul.
10. What was Saul's part in the battle?
11. What have radical critics of the Bible story to say against the
Divine procedure in this part of the history?
12. What is your reply to this ?
13. What interesting fact must yet be noted from this connection?
14. What is the nature of the last paragraph of chapter 14: 47 : 52?
15. Was this custom of Saul's peculiar to him?
16. Is this summary a full account of Sau.'s family?
17.^ By the way of anticipation of the history, and to show that
the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children, and further to
show that in a great man's downfall many are drawn down with him,
state the tragic fate of the various members of Saul's family.
18. What text for a practical sermon in this section?
IX
SAUL'S UNPARDONABLE SIN, AND ITS PENALTY
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 79, 80.
IT is needful to devote an extended discussion to this one
chapter — I Sam. 15. The matters to be considered are
stern, awful, deep and far-reaching, involving doctrines
concerning the sovereignty and supremacy of God over na-
tions and rulers, and His judicial administration in irre-
versible punitive judgments.
It is a caricature of God, divesting Him of holiness and
justice, which represents Him as merciful only.
There is widely prevalent today a weak, sickly sentimen-
talism, which revolts at any view of the divine character
other than His compassion, which divests sin of demerit and
makes all punishment mere temporary chastisement and
remediable. Henry Ward Beecher voiced the sentiment in
his proposition: "All punishment is remediable." The sen-
timent developed into a probation after death, and a purifi-
cation by the fires of purgatory equal in atoning and cleans-
ing power to the blood of Christ. Such sentimentalists find
I Sam. 15 a nut as hard to crack as our Lord's own teaching
concerning His final judgment and the eternity of punish-
ment. Four passages serve well as an introduction to this
chapter :
I. Jehovah's own declaration of His character and attri-
butes to Moses, Ex. 34 : 6-8 : "And Jehovah passed by be-
fore him, and proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful
and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kind-
ness and truth ; keeping loving kindness for thousands, f or-
79
80 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
giving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by
no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children, and upon the children's children, upon the
third and upon the fourth generation."
2. God's taking away from Nebuchadnezzar the heart of
a man and giving him the heart of a beast "till thou know
that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and
giveth it to whomsoever He will," Dan. 4 : 25.
3. Paul's teaching on Mars' Hill in Athens concerning
God as the only object of worship and His government of
nations. Acts 17:22-28.
4. Our Lord's declaration to the woman of Samaria,
that God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must wor-
ship in spirit and truth, John 4 : 23, 24.
The first great doctrine involved is that Jehovah in His
sovereignty over a nation may blot it out, root and branch,
when the measure of its iniquity is full. We have already
found examples of this law in the case of the Canaanite
nations who had left the territory assigned to them as chil-
dren of Ham when the earth was divided, and occupied the
territory divinely allotted to the children of Abraham, but
even Israel was held back from the land until the measure
of the iniquities of these nations had become full. We have
now to find in the story of Amalek the fitness of the appli-
cation of the doctrine to them.
It is possible but not probable that they were the children
of that Amalek named as a descendant of Esau in Gen.
26:12, 16 and I Chron. 1:36. If so, they are out of the
territory of Edom (Esau) and ranging as a predatory tribe
over all the Negeb, or South Country, expressly allotted to
Israel. Without provocation they desperately assaulted
Israel on the approach to Sinai in the battle of Rephidim, so
graphically described in Ex. 17:8-15, on which occasion
their doom was announced by Jehovah : "I will utterly blot
out the remembrance of Amalek from under Heaven. . . .
SAUL'S UNPARDONABLE SIN 81
Jehovah will have war with Amalek from generation to gen-
eration." When Israel had sinned at Kadesh they combined
with the Canaanites to inflict a defeat on it. Again, in the
time of the judges they combined with the Midianites to
destroy Israel, Judges 3 : 12, 13. Moses, in one of his great
farewell addresses, reminds Israel of the evils done by
Amalek, and recalls the doom pronounced at Rephidim, and
urges Israel to execute Jehovah's will when they are estab-
lished in the land, Deut. 25: 17-19.
We find in far later times the last Amalekite known in
history, Haman at the Persian court, seeking the destruction
of captive Israel (Esther 3 to 8), and see him hanged on
the gibbet erected for Mordecai. And now, as Saul is vic-
torious over all his enemies, Samuel, as God's prophet, de-
mands the execution of the long-pending and richly deserved
doom. From the beginning and all along they have sought
with persistent and incorrigible malice to thwart God's pur-'
pose to establish a nation as the custodian of His oracles,
and through which all the nations of the earth were to be
blessed. Amalek must perish or the world cannot be saved.
It was not a mere political necessity, as voiced by Cato:
"Carthage must be destroyed or Rome will perish." It was
a spiritual necessity involving the only hope to all nations.
The second doctrine involved is that the instrument by
which such a ban is executed must consider the doomed
nation and all its property as "devoted to Jehovah for de-
struction," and hence no part of the spoils must be used to
aggrandize the executor, or for offerings on Jehovah's altar
— they are "devoted." And it is this very feature which
divests the executor of all moral responsibility. He is merely
God's sheriff executing a judicial sentence, and hence must
act without private malice, vanity or greed. The terrible
case of Achan when Jericho was "devoted" was well known
to Saul, and should have admonished him.
In later Jewish history, Nebuchadnezzar, the executioner
82 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
of the divine will against Jerusalem, is called "God's Axe,"
and when the axe presumed to attribute to its own prowess
the defeat of Israel, God humbles him as He did Saul; and
when his successor, Belshazzar, blasphemously misuses the
sacred vessels of the detroyed temple, then it is that a hand
appeared and wrote on the wall, ''Mene, Mene, Tekel,
Upharsin," and that night Belshazzar died and Babylon fell.
The third doctrine involved is the discrimination in Jeho-
vah's moral judgments, not paralleled in natural calamities
as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and pestilences.
Jehovah's discriminating justice appears in this destruc-
tion of Amalek by the precaution taken to avert from the
Kenites dwelling -with them, the doom of Amalek. These
Kenites were descendants of Hobab, that brother-in-law of
Moses who accepted the invitation of Moses : ''We are going
to a land which the Lord our God has promised us. Come
and go thou with us, and we will do thee good." So they
went with Israel and shared the prosperity promised, and
were always friendly and helpful, and always sheltered from
the wrath of Israel's enemies. Jael, who slew Sisera, was of
this people.
This sifting of the good from the bad before the final
doom falls on the wicked, is richly illustrated in the saving
of Noah from the doom of the world, and reminds us of the
great intercession of Abraham, when Sodom was doomed
and Lot rescued : "Wilt thou destroy the righteous with the
wicked? . . . Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
Gen. 8:23-33. It appears in the light on Goshen while
Egypt was in darkness, and in all the other discriminating
plagues.
The same principle of discrimination in divine justice is
seen in the parable of the tares (Matthew 13 : 24-30), in the
separation at the great judgment announced by our Lord,
Matt. 15 : 31-34. In the same discourse, our Lord had given
to the disciples a sign, by observing which they fled to Pella
SAUL'S UNPARDONABLE SIN 83
and escaped the doom of Jerusalem executed by Titus.
Peter, referring to two notable instances of this discrimina-
tion, expresses the thought thus : "The Lord knoweth how
to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the un-
righteous under punishment unto the day of judgment," II
Peter 2:9. In the same way, John, in Revelation, before
the doom falls on the spiritual Babylon, says, "Come out of
her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that
ye receive not her plagues," Rev. 18:4. So the Kenites,
when warned, quickly withdrew from Amalek and escaped
its doom.
To lead up to the next doctrine, let us glance at the terms
of Saul's commission and the fidelity of its execution. The
commission runs : "And Samuel said unto Saul, Jehovah
sent me to anoint thee to be king over His people, over
Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the
words of Jehovah. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, I have
marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself
against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt.
Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they
have, and spare them not ; but slay both man and woman,
infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. And Saul
summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two
hundred thousand footmen and ten thousand men of Judah,"
I Sam. 15: 1-4. Thus commissioned by Samuel, Saul sum-
mons all the national militia, 210,000 strong, and smote
Amalek from Havilah in the South Country unto the boun-
dary of Egypt. It was a hard, desert campaign against a
mobile, nomad people, and resulted in a marvelous and
sweeping victory. But the record closes thus : "But Saul
and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and
of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that
was good, and would not utterly destroy them ; but every-
thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly,"
I Sam. 15:9. Saul was so elated at its thoroughness and
84 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
extent that he erected a memorial of his prowess. He was
filled with self-complacency. But God seeth not as man
seeth, nor judgeth as man judgeth. In His eyes Saul had
committed a presumptuous and unpardonable sin. To make
this manifest, we turn from Saul in his triumph to a differ-
ent scene, one of the most touching in all history.
THE INTERVIEW BETWEEN JEHOVAH AND SAMUEL
I Sam. 15 :io, 11 : "Then came the word of Jehovah unto
Samuel, saying. It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be
king; for he is turned back from following me, and hath
not performed my commandments. And Samuel was wroth ;
and he cried unto Jehovah all night." In this interview is
developed the doctrine of the unpardonable sin, so often
referred to in both Testaments.
The sin of Saul may be thus analyzed :
1. Just what he did is thus stated, I Sam. 15:9.
2. It was a wilful sin against light and knowledge, for it
violated the clearly expressed command of Jehovah, 15:3:
"Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that
they have, and spare them not, but slay both man and
woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass."
3. It violated the central provision of the kingdom char-
ter that the earthly king was only the viceroy of the heavenly
King.
4. It was a presumptuous sin, being against the Holy
Spirit, whose power resting on Saul was symbolized by his
anointing, and which alone qualified him to be king and win
victory.
5. It was rebellion, and classed with the capital sins of
witchcraft and idolatry, which Saul himself punished with
death.
6. It was blasphemous, in that it mingled human self-
will, vanity and greed with a bloody execution whose sole
SAUL'S UNPARDONABLE SIN 85
justification was obedience to Jehovah's express sentence as
Supreme Judge, without the human motives of vanity, gain
or malice.
7. It was an eternal sin, evidenced by Jehovah's refusal
to hear Samuel's all-night intercession, by Jehovah's rebuke
to Samuel for mourning for Saul, by the instant and per-
manent withdrawal of the Holy Spirit, by the sending in-
stead an evil spirit to guide him to ruin, by the permanent
separation of the prophet from him, by refusing to ever
again communicate with him in any other way, and finally
by withdrawing from him all that grace by which alone a
man can become penitent. One may have remorse without
the Spirit, but he cannot become penitent without the Spirit.
For the complete separation between Saul and Samuel,
see I Sam. 16: i, for the permanent departure of the Holy
Spirit, succeeded by an evil spirit, see I Sam. 16 : 14 ; for
God's refusal to communicate with Saul any more in any
way, see I Sam. 28:6; to show that God's refusal to hear
intercession for a sin is a mark of its unpardonable charac-
ter, see Jeremiah's reference, Jer. 15: 15, and compare this
with I John 5: 16: "If any man see his brother sinning a
sin not unto death, he shall ask, and God will give him life
for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death ;
not concerning this do I say that he should make request."
Other New Testament correspondences are shown in the
words of our Lord : "He that blasphemeth against the Holy
Ghost committeth an eternal sin. It hath never forgiveness,
neither in this world nor in the world to come." The
declaration in Hebrews 10:26-29: "If we sin wilfully after
that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there
remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful
expectation of judgment. ... A man that hath set at naught
Moses' law dieth without compassion on the word of two
or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, think
ye, shall he be judged worthy, (i) who hath trodden under
86 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
foot the Son of God, (2) and counted the blood of the cove-
nant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and (3)
hath done despite unto the Spirit of Grace?" You see there
is sin against the Father, sin against the Son, and sin against
the Holy Spirit; the first two pardonable, the last never,
doing despite to the Holy Spirit, which is what Saul did,
and hence the Spirit was permanently withdrawn from him.
We come now to the sad, eventful and last interview
between Saul and Samuel. It is evident from this interview
that Saul added brazen lying and hypocrisy to his rebellion.
He first claims that he has fully obeyed Jehovah, even when
the bleating sheep and lowing herds are within sight and
sound to convict him. He then seeks to shift the blame and
responsibility upon the people, and finally he attributes a
pious motive to the sparing of the sheep and oxen — to sac-
rifice on God's altar.
Samuel's tenderness of heart toward Saul is evinced in
his heartbreaking grief when Jehovah announces that Saul
is lost. He not only spends a whole night in earnest but
fruitless prayer that God would forgive Saul, but even after
he knows that the punishment denounced on Saul is irre-
vocable he still mourns for him ; but although his prayers in
behalf of Saul are denied, and though it is a bitter cross to
announce to Saul God's stern will, yet he strictly obeys, and
in his interview with Saul shows more concern for God's
honor than for his own grief.
We come to our next great doctrine in Samuel's reply to
Saul as expressed in verse 22 : "Hath Jehovah as great de-
light in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice
of Jehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to
hearken then the fat of rams." The doctrine here is not;
against the use of the God-appointed sacrifices, but it shows
that mere external conformity with the law of types as
embodied in sacrifices, and the observance of rituals without
faith and the spirit of true worship, is as empty as a blasted
SAUL'S UNPARDONABLE SIN 87
nut. The doctrine does not undervalue the form of godli-
ness, but it does show the superiority of the power of godli-
ness. The truth lies, not in denying the need of the form,
but in relying upon the form only. This doctrine magnifies
the thing signified above the sign, and magnifies the spirit
above the letter. The tendency of the priesthood — the types
and the rituals — throughout the monarchy was a reliance
upon mere empty ceremonies. It was the mission of the
prophets to counteract this, as you will find by carefully
reading the following passages : Psalms 40 : 6-8 ; 51 : 16, 17 ;
Isaiah i: 11-15; Jeremiah J\22, 23; Hosea 6\6, and Micah
6 : 6-8. These passages should be carefully studied in their
context, otherwise we will never understand the difference
in the spirit of the prophetic teaching as contrasted with the
letter of the priestly teaching.
From these prophetic declarations the radical critics have
drawn the irrational and untenable conclusion that the tes-
timony of the prophets shows that the Levitical part of the
Mosaic law was a late addition, and particularly they stress
the declaration in Jer. 7 : 22, 23. It is easy to answer their
criticism upon all the other passages cited, but not so easy to
reply to the Jeremiah passage. You might well say with
reference to that passage that it was literally fulfilled in
the days of the wilderness wandering after Israel's sin at
Kadesh. For thirty-eight years, they being under excom-
munication, God did not require them to comply with the
forms of His laws. They did not observe the requirements
of the tabernacle worship; they did not circumcise their chil-
dren, the thought in Jeremiah being that aliens without faith
in the thing signified are not commanded to observe the
form.
We come to another great doctrine drawn from Saufs
confession, "I have sinned." The doctrine is that a mere
confession in words is not a proof of grace in the heart. In
Saul's case, evidently his confession was extorted by re-
88 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
morse or the fear of the consequences made manifest by
Samuel. Indeed, he trembled at the appalling doom pro-
nounced upon him, but he never repented of his sin. Spur-
geon illustrates this great doctrine by preaching a famous
sermon entitled, "A Sermon from Seven Texts." There
were indeed seven texts, but every one of them had the
same words, *'I have sinned," only these words came from
seven different men, and he shows that when Saul says, "I
have sinned," it does not mean what it means when David
says, "I have sinned," and that when Judas and Balaam say,
**I have sinned," it does not mean what it means when the
prodigal says, ''I have sinned." The author, when he was
a pastor, was so much interested by this sermon of Spur-
geon's that he called the attention of his congregation to it,
and found three other texts, "I have sinned," spoken by
three other men, making ten in all, and called his sermon "A
Sermon from Ten Texts."
Finally we need to explain the apparent discrepancy be-
tween what God says of himself, "It repenteth me," in verse
II, and what Samuel says of God in verse 29: ''God is not
a man that He should repent." The explanation is that
"repent" in the first case does not mean the same as "repent"
in the second case.
Whenever repentance is attributed to God, it does not
mean that He has changed His mind, hut that a sinner's
change of conduct has necessitated a change in God's atti-
tude toward the sinner.
The thought is fully illustrated thus in Gen. 6 in these
words : "And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was
great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually, and it repented Jeho-
vah that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him
at His heart, and Jehovah said, I will destroy man whom I
have created from the face of the ground."
Here the repentance attributed to God expresses His gen-
SAUL'S UNPARDONABLE SIN 89
uine grief at the corruption of the most of the human race,
and. that this caused a change in His attitude toward so many
of the race as were thus hopelessly and incorrigibly cor-
rupted. It does not mean absolutely the whole race, for the
context shows that Noah was an exception, and that God
did not repent concerning Noah, but continued the race in
him.
We say, in common parlance, "The sun rises and sets."
We do not mean by this that the sun revolves around the
earth, but in common speech, based on appearance, we
simply mean that the earth revolving on its own axis,
changes its face to the sun, with the result of alternating
day and night.
I have stressed the great doctrines of this section because
preachers and Christian workers will be continually con-
fronted with weak, sickly and sentimental views of the char-
acter of God, of the demerit of sin and of the eternity of
punishment. This public opinion will press upon you to
confine your preaching to the infinite compassion and mercy
of God.
You should, indeed, in the fullest terms, magnify God's
pity. His tenderness. His mercy. His long-suffering, His for-
giving of sins, but you shoidd also stress that when this
mercy is despised, when it is disregarded until the heart
becomes past feeling, then come Hell and eternal punish-
ment.
QUESTIONS
1. What the nature of the matters in this discussion, and of the
doctrines involved?
2. What the sickly sentimentalism even now prevalent concerning
these doctrines ? Cite a special case.
3. What four scriptures might well serve as an introduction to this
discussion?
4. What the first great doctrine cited in this discussion?
5. Recite briefly the story of the Canaanites and of the Amalekites,
and show the fitness of applying the doctrine to them.
6. What the second great doctrine cited ?
7. What special instances of its application?
90 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
8. What the third great doctrine cited as arising from the provision
to save the Kenites from the doom of Amalek?
9. Cite the several illustrations of this doctrine given.
10. Recite Saul's commission against Amalek, and his execution
of it.
11. Contrast Saul's view of his performance with God's view of it.
12. What the fourth great doctrine, developed in Jehovah's inter-
view with Samuel?
13. Give the analysis of Saul's sin, showing its unpardonable
character, giving O. T. proofs and N. T. correspondences therewith.
14. Show that Samuel's great tenderness of heart toward Saul did
not weaken his fidelity to God,
15. Show how Saul, in his last interview with Samuel, added brazen
lying and hypocrisy to his rebellion.
16. What the fifth great doctrine found in Samuel's reply to Saul,
I Sam. 15:22?
17. What other prophets enforced the doctrine, and how does the
N. T. endorse the prophets?
18. What irrational conclusions have the radical critics drawn from
these prophetical utterances, and what the answer to them, especially
on Jer. 7 : 22, 23 ?
19. What the sixth great doctrine, drawn from Saul's confession,
"I have sinned?"
20. How did Spurgeon illustrate this doctrine in a famous sermon?
21. Explain the apparent discrepancy between what God says of
himself, "It repenteth me," and what Samuel says of God, "God is not
a man that He should repent."
DAVID CHOSEN AS SAUL'S SUCCESSOR, AND
HIS INTRODUCTION TO THE COURT
OF SAUL
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 81-84
THE rejection of King Saul introduces as his successor
the most remarkable man of the Hebrew monarchy,
or of any other monarchy. Apart from the history
of David, we cannot understand the Psalms, and apart from
the Psalms we cannot understand the history. A great
number of these Psalms, written by David himself, reflect
and expound his own life-experiences, and forecast the ex-
periences of Christian people of all subsequent generations.
Most of the others were written by his singers and their
successors. There is for every Psalm an historic occasion
and background.
Again, apart from David's history, we cannot under-
stand the marvelous development of the Messianic hope
from his time on. In like manner, in his own time and
later, the great prophetic utterances root in his history, with
their promises and foreshadowings. Indeed, the proofs of
a high order of spiritual life in the old dispensation, and of
the spiritual import of the Mosaic law are most abundant
in David's life, his worship and the literature arising
therefrom.
To take away the history of David, removes in an im-
portant sense, the foundation of the New Testament. This
connection with the New Testament may be abundantly
found in references to the history of David, and the expo-
91
92 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
sition of it by our Lord and His apostles. Fortunately for
the preachers of our day, there is a rich and trustworthy
literature concerning this most notable king of history.
Indeed, in view of this literature, so easily obtained, that
preacher is inexcusable who remains in ignorance concern-
ing David. No exigency of life, whether arising from pov-
erty, sickness or any other cause, can excuse the preacher
who fails to study, in a thorough and systematic manner,
the life of David.
The reader will recall the books recommended when we
commenced this harmony ; not a multitudinous and costly
list for great scholars, but a list for students of the English
Bible, all cheap, all good, all easily obtained, and it was
stated at that time that when we came to the history of
David, other books of like character would be named.
Some, indeed, of the very best of these we reserve until
we come to the study of the Psalter. The preacher who
has in his. library choice books on the law, the Psalter and
the prophets is equipped for Old Testament exposition, and
prepared to undertake the study of the New Testament.
Every Sunday School teacher and every layman engaged
in any public activity of kingdom-service should have these
books. Now to these already named, towit: Josephus,
Edersheim, Dean, Geikie, Stanley, Hengstenberg, and to
the three commentaries — Kirkpatrick on Samuel in the Cam-
bridge Bible, Blakie on Samuel in the Expositor's Bible,
and Murphy on I Chronicles — we will add and especially
commend a little book entitled ''David King of Israel," by
W. M. Taylor, author also of the famous book on the
parables.
It will be observed that the text-book has for its third
part of Saul's reign this appropriate heading : 'The Decline
of Saul and the Rise of David," and that this history is
found in I Sam., chapters i6 to 31, supplemented by only
five passages from Chronicles — I Chron. 10:1-14; 11:13,
DAVID CHOSEN AS KING 93
14; 12:1-7; 12:16-18; 12:19-22 — only thirty verses in all.
There are special items of interest touching David, which
appear in the various genealogical tables of both Testaments,
towit :
1. His ancestry is clearly traced back to Adam, and his
posterity forward to our Lord.
2. Twice is his descent marked from one of twins strug-
gling in the mother's womb, the history in each case re-
markable. You will find the history in Gen. 25:21-26 and
38:1-30.
3. On the maternal side are two foreigners, Rahab the
Canaanitess and Ruth the Moabitess, thus connecting both
David and our Lord with the Gentiles.
4. He came in the line of all the promises from Adam
to his own time.
5. He came in the royal line according to the prophecy
of his dying ancestor, Jacob:
"The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the Ruler's staff from between his feet,
Until Shiloh come ;
And unto Him shall the obedience of the peoples be."
6. His birthplace and home is Bethlehem, and it was
the birthplace of his greater son, our Lord.
There is some difficulty in determining his place in the
family, that is, whether he was the seventh or the eighth
son of Jesse. The scriptures that furnish an explanation of
statements that he was the seventh son and the eighth son
are I Sam. 16:10, 11; 17:12; II Sam. 17:25; I Chron.
2:15 and 27: 18. This section presents eight sons, of whom
David is declared to be the youngest, and in the next chap-
ter it expressly says that Jesse had eight sons, and again
affirms that David was the youngest; but I Chron. 2:15
makes David the seventh. A careful examination of all
these passages yields this explanation : He was the seventh
son of Jesse by his first wife, but younger than another son
94 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
of Jesse Uy his second wife; therefore he was the seventh
son in the sense meant, and yet he was the eighth and the
youngest son of Jesse.
As we progress in the history, we will find other members
of David's kindred becoming quite prominent in the history,
and some of them adding much to the troubles and trage-
dies of his life. His three oldest brothers are mentioned in
this section as being in Saul's army, and EHhu, another
brother, when David organized the kingdom, becomes cap-
tain of the tribe of Judah. Amasa, the son of his sister,
Abigail, is a very prominent figure in the history, and with
Abishai, Joab and Asahel, sons of his sister, Zeruiah, have
much more to do with his history. One of his uncles, Jona-
dab, becomes an occasional counsellor in his reign, and one
of his brothers becomes a mighty champion.
Our story commences under the following conditions:
First, Saul, under two great tests, has failed to comply with
the kingdom charter, losing the dynasty by the first, and
his personal right to reign by the second, but he is yet king
de facto, though not de jure. That means he is king in
fact, but not in right. Jehovah has utterly withdrawn from
any communication with him, and an evil spirit is leading
him to ruin. The Philistines still wage sore war against
him. Samuel, the aged prophet, has withdrawn from him,
and is teaching in his school of the prophets at Ramah.
Jehovah has already announced to Saul, not only the loss
of the throne to his dynasty and his personal rejection as
king, but that the Lord hath sought Him a man after His
own heart, and commanded him to be captain over His
people; but so far there has been no designation of this
man, and you must particularly note that after the designa-
tion his rule does not commence until Saul has wrought
out his own ruin.
The section opens with Jehovah's designation of the man
by lot, and his anointing by Samuel. Samuel's fear that
DAVID CHOSEN AS KING 95
Saul will kill him if he anoints a successor is assuaged by
Jehovah's directions as to the method and purpose of the
anointing. It is not the divine purpose to bring about a
division of Israel under rival kings ; therefore Samuel must
go to Bethlehem to offer sacrifices, which would not attract
Saul's attention; then the designation by lot there, with
the anointing, are private acts. The object of this is to
begin the preparation of David for the kingly office, which
he is not to assume until the time designated by Jehovah.
At no time while Saul lives does either the Spirit impress
David to assume the kingly office for which he has been
anointed, nor does David of his own motion conspire against
Saul, or in any way seek to weaken his authority. This
time the basis of God's choice is not physical stature and
strength, as in Saul's case, but the state of the heart in
God's sight.
The choice surprises everybody but God. Neither Samuel
nor the family, nor David himself would have judged as
Jehovah judged. Seldom indeed can parents, brother or
sister point out the member of the family who shall become
illustrious, nor does the illustrious one himself always an-
ticipate his future honor and position. A boy often aspires
to great things, and imagines most vividly the glories that
shall rest on him when he shall have the world in a sling,
and vividly pictures to himself a home-coming when all the
other members of his family shall find shelter under his
wings, and all the neighbors who had failed to recognize
his budding genius shall stand with mouths agape, while
salvos of artillery, unfurled banners, flower-decked streets
proclaim his honor, while bands are playing "See, the Con-
quering Hero Comes !" But time, the great revealer, shows
these egotistical fancies to be as "the airy nothings" of a
dream.
A boy in East Texas offered to take me from one preach-
ing place to another, in order, as he stated, to tell me that
96 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
he would be the governor of Texas, but I haven't heard
from him since. Shakespeare says, "Some men are born
great; some achieve greatness, and some have greatness
thrust upon them," but being born to a high honor, or
having it thrust upon you, will only add to your unfitness
and make your failure more conspicuous, if you have not
the character and training to wear it well.
It may be that some one of my readers, in casting his
horoscope, has seen himself a preacher cutting a wide swath,
salary of $10,000 a year, no building able to hold his congre-
gations, and glaring headlines in the great dailies announc-
ing that he is "shaking the foundations of hell and opening
the portals of Heaven."
Some of my admiring friends, judging from my great
knowledge of the history of wars, predicted that I would at
least become a corps commander, should a war arise in my
time. A war came and left me a high private, while only
such "little" men as Lee, Jackson, Stuart and the Johnsons
on one side, and Grant, Sherman, Sheridan and Thomas
on the other side, wrote their names in the niches of the
temple of fame — but these "little" men were all trained at
West Point.
The history we are studying makes it evident that Saul
had neither the character nor the training to become a great
ruler, but David had both. Woe to any of us who under-
estimate the knowledge of these three things: (i) a right
state of heart toward God, (2) the discipline of preparation
and training, and (3) dependence on the power of the Holy
Spirit.
Only men of great heart, great preparation and great
power with God achieve anything worth while in the
ministry.
David's early life in the fields and valleys and mountains,
with its isolation and loneliness given to meditation and
reflection, put him near to nature's heart and impressed
DAVID CHOSEN AS KING 97
him with the fact that an individual man is insignificant in
the scheme of God's great universe, and hence taught him
to sing: "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy
fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
what is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the son of
man that thou visitest him?" and also taught him to sing,
"The heavens declare the glory of God ; and the firmament
showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech,
and night unto night showeth knowledge." His occupation
gave him the shepherd's heart, and evoked that sweetest of
all hymns: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,"
and that same shepherd office called out high courage that
made him triumph in solitary grapple with the lion and the
bear that would prey upon his flock, and gave him a match-
less skill with the sling that would one day smite down a
boasting giant.
The hardships of this calling in such a field gave him
toughness of fibre and power of endurance. He could bear
hunger and cold and heat without fainting. He himself
says that he became as "fleet of foot as a wild gazelle," and
could conquer a goat in climbing a mountain. His asso-
ciation with the school of the prophets gave him devotion
of spirit, and developed that natural cunning of fingers that
struck the strings of a harp in a way never equalled by
any other bard. His music would not only charm a serpent,
soothe a savage breast, drive away melancholy, but would
dispossess the devil, and above all things, with his anoint-
ing, the Spirit came upon him, and was never taken away
from him. Only once he let Satan prompt him to do a
disastrous thing, and once only through sin was he con-
strained to pray, "Take not thy Holy Spirit from me, and
renew a right spirit within me."
Apart from this early life-preparation, before he appears
in public and begins to reign so long and so well, there
awaits him a novitiate of training under sufferings and per-
98 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
secutions such as seldom fall to the lot of man. His per-
sonal appearance is described in chapter 16:12 and 17:2,
as ruddy of face, brilliant of eye, very handsome in his
person. We are able to distinguish the Spirit's power that
came on David from the same power on Saul. In Saul's
case, it was only occasional, and finally utterly withdrawn;
in David's case, the "Spirit abode on him from that day
forward." An old writer thus distinguishes between a
sinner and a saint : "The Spirit visits a sinner, but dwells
with a saint ; and conversely, Satan visits a saint, but dwells
with a sinner." A very fine thought.
Here we come upon a controversy : What was the occa-
sion of David's first introduction to the court of Saul?
Was it the harp-playing of 16: 14-23, or was it the slaying
of Goliath and the consequent victory, as told in chapter
17? If the first, how do you account for Saul's ignorance
of David when he appears on the second occasion, 17 : 55"5^»
that is, Saul asking Abner, "Who is this young stripling?"
and Abner saying, "I don't know." They don't seem to
have ever heard of him. Some critics contend that I Sam.
16 and 17 are from diflferent historic sources, and that they
contradict each other flatly and irreconcilably in giving the
occasion of David's introduction to the court of Saul. More-
over, they say that if the harp-playing precedes the other,
then the ignorance of not only Saul himself, but of the
whole court concerning David and his father, is inexpHcable,
especially as in the nature of the case there could be no
great interval of time between the two events, since David
is, in the second, twice called a "stripling."
The possibility of two sources is conceded, but not the
certainty of it. It is the custom of inspired writers to
repeat on new occasions enough of the past history to make
clear the context. The court of Saul was ignorant of David
and his family on both occasions. The first time, only one
of the servants knows anything about David and his family,
DAVID CHOSEN AS KING 99
and his skill of song and speech, and Jehovah's presence
with him. The servant's word about David and his family
would make no great or lasting impression on Saul and his
court. The chief thing with them was the curing of Saul,
and when after several harp-play ings, the cure seems per-
manent, the human helper returns to the care of his flocks
and is swiftly forgotten. You will understand their igno-
rance from the fact that Samuel's anointing of David was
not in the public eye, but in private, and the spiritual en-
dowment that followed would be known only by a few
neighbors having knowledge of David's shepherd life ; none
of it was known abroad. His ministrations and harp-play-
ing were in the sick-room and not before the court. More-
over, Saul himself, while possessed of an evil spirit, suffered
from mental aberration, which naturally impaired his mem-
ory, and while the record of the harp-playing shows that
Saul loved the healer, we all know by experience how grate-
ful to the physician is every patient in the moment of relief,
but if we continue well, how easily the physician passes out
of our memory and life, until we get sick again. It is
somewhat like the old proverb:
"When the devil is sick,
The devil a saint would be ;
When the devil is well,
The devil a saint is he !"
Solomon says in his penitential book, "There is no re-
membrance of former generations'' Eccles. i:ii. But
there is no need to quote this general reflection of Solomon,
since one of the most striking characteristics of human
courts is that presence only keeps one in mind. Absence
obliterates you from the memory of the great, to whom
yesterday is a "long time ago," and with whom the new
man or the new event fills all the vision. As an illustration
of the characteristic of kings to forget their benefactors,
the great Earl of Stratford, himself a notable illustration
100 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
of this fact, said, when his death warrant was signed by
the ungrateful Charles I, "Put not your trust in princes,'*
so we needn't concern ourselves about the contradictions the
critics are so ready to find.
In all literature no book can be found more natural, more
true to life, more vivid and simple in its records of past
events, than I Samuel. Each event is recorded as by an
eyewitness in its own independent setting, absolutely devoid
of any strain to appear consistent with previous statements.
Any lawyer will tell you that the evidence of a witness is
to be distrusted when he labors to harmonize one statement
with another. He is sure to tell a lie when he does that.
Our conclusion, then, is fixed that the harp-playing pre-
ceded the Goliath incident. Indeed, the evidence is positive
that David did not continue at Saul's court on his first in-
troduction. You were told in II Sam. 17: 12 that he would
only come when there was the sickness, and then go back
to his home ; but after his second introduction, as you learn
from 18:2, Saul did not allow him to go home any more.
Sir Walter Scott, in one of his romances, makes the harp-
playing of a beautiful girl drive away the temporary mad-
ness of a highland chief. In which romance is this incident
related? I will ask also, What did Shakespeare say about
the man devoid of music? Can you answer that? The
question also arises: How do you explain the healing of
Saul? The answer is obvious. The Spirit of the Lord in
David's music was greater than the demon possessing Saul.
Other items on the designation and anointing of David
we need not discuss further, nor the healing of Saul by
David's playing the harp, but something should be said
about the fight with Goliath and the victory that ensued.
We have before us a giant indeed, and we learn from
other parts of the Bible that there was a family of these
giants. This man was not the only one of the family. You
would have a hard time carrying his spear, and you would
DAVID CHOSEN AS KING 101
be unable to carry his armor. The two armies came face
to face, with just a ravine between, one on each hill. The
one that advances has the task of going down hill under
fire, and coming up a hill under charge ; therefore Goliath,
the giant, according to custom, steps out and challenges
anybody in Israel to test the fate of the two nations on a
single combat, and in order to provoke a response, he, ac-
cording to the usual custom, curses the gods of the people
that he challenges. This happens for forty days in succes-
sion. Israel is humbled; the Philistines triumph. About
that time, Jesse wants to send some rations to his three
boys in the army, just like parents sometimes send provi-
sions to students in school, and David is appointed to carry
them, and when he gets there, he hurriedly puts the provi-
sions with the baggage of the army, and rushes to the front.
He wants to see the fight, and he hears a shout and beholds
that giant come out and repeat his insulting and blasphemous
challenge, and he inquires why somebody has not responded.
His older brother says, virtually, "You had better go back
and be tied again to your mother's apron string. What's a
little boy like you doing on a battle field where men only
ought to be?" David responds that nothing he has said
was out of place, and leaves the brethren, who did not be-
lieve in him, as the brothers of our Lord did not believe
in Him, and goes and mixes around among the soldiers and
urges that somebody in the name of Jehovah could smite
that giant, and that he is willing to undertake it.
Saul, who had offered an immense reward to anyone
who would accept the challenge and defeat the giant, in-
cluding even his own daughter for a wife, hears of David's
offer and sends for him. He is surprised to see a boy — a
mere stripling — and he says: "You? You can't fight this
'giant. " David says, "Sire, I can. I am the shepherd of
my father's flock, and when a bear and a lion came out to
prey on the flock, I fought them unarmed, and when they
102 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
reared up against me, I took them by the mane and slew
them." Saul was a much bigger man than David. He said,
"I am willing to let you go if you will put on my armor."
David put it on and took it off, saying that he could not
fight in Saul's armor. What a text for the preacher!
Never try to fight as some other man fights. Don't try to
preach like Brother Truett. You can't do it. Don't imitate
him.
So David marches down against Goliath with nothing but
a sling. He picks up in that ravine five pebbles. It excites
the scorn of the giant that a boy unarmed should be sent
against him, and he says, "Come up here and let me give
your flesh to the fowls of the air," and again curses Jehovah.
David never stops, but runs to meet him, puts a stone in
the sling, whirling it around ; it flies and smites the giant in
the middle of the forehead, and buries itself in his brain.
The text says that the giant so struck fell on his face.
Why did not he fall backwards? It is a notable fact, wit-
nessed a thousand times on the battlefield, and in executing
men by shooting, that when the firing squad fires and the
bullets enter the man's heart, he always falls on his face,
never backwards. It is one of these natural things that
continually creep into Samuel's narrative that makes one
know it is a true story. I have seen thousands of men
fall in battle, and I never saw a man shot through the brain
or heart that did not fall forwards.
David rises up, takes Goliath's sword and cuts his head
off, places the head at Jerusalem for the present, puts the
armor in his tent, and here comes the question that you
may answer: When does Goliath's sword appear again in
the history? What did he do with it, and where does it
come to light again? With the fall of the giant the Philis-
tines are panic-stricken and the Israelites encouraged, and
the fight joins, and it is in the book of Chronicles that we
learn a fact not stated in Samuel. That passage about
DAVID CHOSEN AS KING 103
Shammah does not belong there where the harmonist puts
it, but the one about Eleazar may be rightly placed. The
fight was waged in a plat of ground full of barley. Eleazar
stands with him and does great exploits, and so they put the
Philistines to rout, and Eleazar afterwards, when David
becomes king, is one of his mighty men. The victory is
very great, and David returns and Saul appropriates him.
He is never more allowed to go back to his father's house.
QUESTIONS
1. What tfie general theme of the Harmony's third part of the
reign of Saul ?
2. What part of I Samuel covers the theme?
3. How much does I Chronicles supplement?
4. What the present section ?
5. What new book commended?
6. What the importance of the history of David, and its relation to
the Psalms, the Mosaic law, the larger Messianic hope, the prophets,
and the New Testament?
7. What the richness of the literature on David, and the preacher's
duty concerning it ?
8. What items of special interest in genealogical tables of both
Testaments concerning David ?
9. Where his birthplace and home?
ID. Was he the seventh or eighth son of Jesse, and what scriptures,
when compared, answer the question ?
11. Name other members of David's family, some of them quite
prominent in the subsequent history, who add to the troubles and
tragedies of his later life.
12. State the conditions under which the story of his life opens.
13. What the divisions of this section?
14. Give the story of Jehovah's designation of David, and his
anointing in such a way as to show they were both private.
15. What the basis of the choice of king this time, and who were
surprised at it, and why?
16. What the author's observations on this point?
17. What three things should a preacher never underestimate?
18. What the elements of David's preparation to be king, arising
from his early life and office?
19. What says Shakespeare of the man devoid of music?
20. What David's highest qualification immediately following his
anointing, and contrast it with Saul's like qualification.
21. What an old-time preacher's distinction on this point between
a saint and a sinner?
22. What apropos proverb concerning the devil?
23. What David's personal appearance ?
24. How do you dispose of the apparent contradiction between
104. THE HEBREW MONARCHY
i6: 14-23 and 17: 12-58 as to the occasion of David's first introduction
to the court of Saul ; and if you say the harp-playing was the first, then
explain the ignorance of David and his family manifested by Saul
and his court on the second introduction.
25. How do you explain David's healing of Saul by music?
26. In what romance does Sir Walter Scott give the story of a
highland chief's madness being dispelled by a girl's harp-playing?
27. What the relative position of the opposing armies of Saul and
the Philistines?
28. What the nature of Goliath's challenge, and why does he curse
Jehovah ?
29. What Saul's offer for reward for a champion who would defeat
him?
30. What the occasion of David's presence on the battle-field?
31. Why his indignation that no Israelite responded to the chal-
lenge, and his oldest brother's rebuke ?
32. Show from his interview with Saul that faith and not
immodesty prompted him to accept the challenge.
33. Why did he reject Saul's armor, and rely upon his shepherd's
sling?
34. Why did Goliath, when smitten, fall on his face?
35. What the effect of the fall of Goliath on the two armies?
36. What hero stood by David in the fight, before the main body
of Saul's army arrives ?
37. Tell the history of David's disposition of Goliath's head, armor
and sword, and when again does the sword appear in the history?
XI
THE WAR BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE— THE
STORY OF A LOST SOUL
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 84-87
THIS discussion commences at I Sam. 18: i, and here
we are confronted, first of all, by another text-diffi-
culty. We saw in a former discussion that about
27 verses of the 17th chapter did not appear in the Septua-
gint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, but we
know that those omissions must have been in the original
Hebrew, for Josephus follows the text of the 17th chapter
strictly in his history of the Jews, but when we come to
the omissions in the i8th chapter from the Septuagint,
Josephus does not give them. I repeat that our present
Hebrew text was derived from late manuscripts of about
the 9th or loth century. I do not mean to say that there
were no Hebrew texts before that, for Jerome, who trans-
lated the whole Bible into Latin, the edition called the "Vul-
gate," in the 4th century, had Hebrew texts before him,
and in a Roman Catholic English Bible we find Jerome's
Latin Bible translated into English and called the "Douay
Bible," which contains every word of our text. There are
about 14 verses of the iSth chapter that do not appear in
any manuscript of the Septuagint which we have except the
Alexandrian manuscript, and it seems to be added there.
It is not in the Vatican manuscript of the Septuagint, but
we may thoroughly rely upon everything set forth in the
17th and i8th chapters as being a part of the Word of God.
Before commencing to expound this section I call atten-
105
106 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
tion to a word in the 27th verse of the i8th chapter, "tale"
— "a full tale." That is an old English word not much
used now. I give an example of its old EngHsh use. Milton
in one of his poems, "L' Allegro," uses this language :
"Every shepherd tells his tale,
Under the hawthorne in the dale."
What is the meaning of the word, "tale?" Does it mean
that every shepherd tells his story, or narrative ? No ; that
is not the meaning of the old English word, "tale." "Every
shepherd tells his number, his reckoning of the sheep."
From that we get our English word, "tally." The shep-
herds number their flocks in the evening to see if they have
the same number that they took out in the morning. "Every
shepherd makes his tally, under the hawthorne in the dale."
That is what Milton means.
There is another old English word in chapter 18:30 —
"set," "much set by." What does "set" mean there? The
meaning of "set" in such a connection is "esteem." We
say, "I set great store by such a man," which means, "I
esteem him very much."
Yet another English word in this section, where Jona-
than's bow and arrows are called "artillery." Our meaning
of the word "artillery" is confined to cannon, but the origi-
nal word meant any implement of war. These remarks on
"tale," "set" and "artillery" are to show the changes that
have taken place in the signification of words in the English
language since the Bible was translated by the King James
revisers. Paul says, "I purposed to come unto you, (but
was let hitherto)." Now "let" means "permitted;" then it
meant "hindered" — "I was hindered hitherto."
Having disposed of that reference to the text, and those
four instances of the changed meaning of old English words,
we will take up the discussion proper. I commence with
this observation, that from the 18th to the 26th chapter,
inclusive, we have a section of the history that ought to
LOVE AND HATE 107
be studied at one sitting. It is a pity to break it up into
fragments. The parts are so intimately related that we
need to have the whole of the story before us in order to
get in their relations certain great lessons. These lessons
are:
1. These nine chapters, from the i8th to the 26th inclu-
sive, show a protracted conflict between hate and love, and
love's final triumph ; Saul's hate against David ; the love of
Jonathan, Michal, the people, the prophets and the priests
for David, warring against Saul's hate of David, and we
see Satan inspiring the hate and Jehovah inspiring the love.
That is the first lesson of these nine chapters.
2. These chapters show that there is a conflict between
folly and wisdom, for hate is folly and love is wisdom;
therefore the hating man is showing himself to be a fool at
every step of the history, and the loving man is showing
himself to be wise at every step of the history. Not only
is hate criminal, but it is the most foolish passion in which
you can indulge. The remarkable wisdom and forbearance
of David defeat all the folly of Saul's hate. That is one
of the most evident things in the nine chapters. Under
similar conditions not one man in a million would imitate
David; not one in any number of millions under similar
conditions would do as David did unless he were influenced
by the Holy Spirit of God. History abounds in lessons to
show that men, under long, continued provocations, not only
strike back, which David didn't do, but they become traitors
to their own countries when the persecuting one is the ruler
of the country. If they are not under the influence of God,
they will end in becoming traitors.
We have a signal example in Benedict Arnold. There
was not a more valiant soldier and capable general in the
army in the Revolution than Benedict Arnold. He was
the bravest of the brave, but Congress not only showed
lack of appreciation of him, but put one indignity on him
108 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
after another. Then he acted unHke David — he sold his
country to the British and became a general in the British
army.
In studying Roman history we see the same thing in
Coriolanus. When the Romans mistreated this great gen-
eral he went over to the enemy of Rome, the Volsci, and
led a triumphant army to the very gates of Rome. The
Romans in terror asked his mother to go and plead with
him to spare Rome. She went out and appealed to his
patriotism and to his love of family. He said, "Mother,
you have saved Rome, but you have lost your son ; for the
Volsci will kill me unless I capture Rome," and they did
kill him when he refused to capture Rome.
When a man is not under the guidance of God's Holy
Spirit and injuries are put upon him, he will strike back
and resort ultimately to any expedient to glut his vengeance.
3. The third great lesson is the historian's graphic de-
scription of the progress of the passions, whether good or
bad, ever developing until each one comes to a final crystal-
lization. More than once I have told you of that power of
the historian in I Samuel in tracing developments.
4. The fourth lesson is that both hate and love recog-
nize the will of Jehovah in the passing events. We see
Saul's hate discovering in David's triumph that he is the
rival whom God has appointed to succeed him, and we will
see Jonathan's love discovering the same thing.
5. The fifth lesson is the distinct stages of Saul's re-
morse when under the influence of Jonathan's counsel and
David's good will.
6. The sixth lesson is the progress in the attachment
between David and Jonathan. There is nothing like it in
the history of the world, though we find in the classics the
remarkable love between Damon and Pythias. There are
three distinct covenants between Jonathan and David.
7. The whole story shows that if God be for a man.
LOVE AND HATE 109
neither man nor devil can be against him successfully, and
that if God be against a man none can be successfully for
him. As Paul puts it: ''If God be for us, who can be
against us?" Oftentimes we have to fight public opinion.
Oftentimes we feel that we are isolated from our kind on
account of the position that we are compelled to take as
God's representative, but let this comfort us, that if God be
for us ; if, indeed, we are on God's side, nothing ultimately
will prevail against us.
8. The eighth lesson is that high above Saul, Jonathan,
Michal, David, we see two worlds interested — Satan en-
deavoring to thwart the establishment of the kingdom of
God and using Saul and others as his instruments, and
Jehovah proceeding to establish His kingdom and using
David, Jonathan and others as His instruments.
// we don't recognize the fact that the world above and
the world beneath touch human lives and have much to do
with events, then we never can understand the history of
any one man, much less one nation.
That was the trouble in Job's mind. If he could have
seen what the historian tells us about, that coming together
of the angels, good and bad, when God held His stated
meeting of angels, and knew that an evil angel was seeking
to do him harm, and that he could not do this except as
God permitted it, then he could have understood why un-
deserved afflictions came upon hirh, and why God permitted
them. Homer, while holding to the wrong kind of gods,
not only follows the true poetical idea, but he follows the
true idea in representing all the gods and goddesses as inter-
ested in the Trojan war. I have studied it so much that
when a war commences, say between Japan and Russia, I
look for the devil's tracks and also look for the tracks of
Jehovah, and I can better understand the issue of wars
when I do that.
These are the great lessons that are set forth in the nine
110 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
chapters. We will commence now and discover these great
lessons one after another as we take up the story seriatim,
and we note first the progress of Saul's hate. What was
the origin of Saul's hate? When he committed his first sin
God announced to him that He had selected a man after
His own heart to whom He would give the kingdom, and
when Saul committed his second sin God again refers to
His purpose to substitute for Saul a better man. That
rankles in Saul's mind. Always he carries that thought
with him: ^'Somebody is to be put up to succeed me," and
hence he will be looking around, watching every arriving
man — "Maybe he is the one." There we see the origin
of it.
The first expression of it comes in this section, which
says that after the great victory over the Philistines by
David described in the last chapter, and the pursuit clear
to the gates of the Philistine cities, that when the army
returned home the women, according to a custom of that
time and of this time, determined to celebrate the return
of the victorious army, so they sang, antiphonally. It was
like the responsive singing of Miriam and her choir in the
paean of deliverance after the safe passage of the Red Sea.
The record says that they sang antiphonally, and the first
part of them would sing, "Saul hath slain his thousands"
and the other part would respond, "But David hath slain
his ten thousands."
When these women sang that way it excited Saul's wrath,
and he instantly thought of what God had announced, and
he says, "What more is there for him but the kingdom?"
"Here is a man who has gained a great victory and the
people are with him, and even the women are putting him
above me," hence the text says that from that day Saul
eyed David. When a man looks at another sideways under
lowered lids, that is what we call "eyeing a man." He is
under suspicion from that time on. That is the first
LOVE AND HATE 111
expression of the hate of Saul, and you find it in chapter
18:8,9.
We now come to a truth of very great importance. In
a previous part of the book we have seen that God, in
David's music, could exorcise the demon in Saul, and did
do it, and for quite a while Saul was not under the posses-
sion of the demon, but here comes a word from our Lord
fitting the case exactly. It is found in Matt. 12 : 43-45 :
"The unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passeth
through waterless places seeking rest, and findeth it not.
Then he saith, I will return into my house whence I came
out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and
garnished. Then goeth he and taketh with himself seven
other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and
dwell there : and the last state of that man becometh worse
than the first." That is pertinent to this case. A demon
may be cast out once, then, as Jesus says to a man under
similar conditions, "Go and sin no more, lest a worse thing
befall thee." Should that demon come back he cannot again
be exorcised. The text here is the proof. When that evil
spirit, taking advantage of Saul's hate, re-entered Saul, they
sent for the usual remedy — David must come and play for
him. But David plays and the spirit does not leave. On
the contrary, he prompts Saul to thrust a javelin at the
heart of David. That is the pivotal point in Saul's case.
There he passes the boundary line.
"There is a time, we know not when ;
A place, we know not where;
That marks the destiny of men
To glory or despair."
It is as if a man under the habit of drunkenness is cured
at a sanitarium. Let him beware of ever falling into the
habit again; the sanitarium won't cure him the next time.
In other words, a sinner that does not avail himself of the
means of grace that are applied to him will ultimately get
112 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
past feeling; like Pharaoh, his heart will be hardened until
it never can be softened again. Like Ephraim, he will
become wedded to his idols.
The most notable instance of this that ever came within
my experience was at a meeting that I held in the old Provi-
dence Church in Burleson County. Ah! what a meeting!
Seventy days and nights, until it seemed that every sinner
in fifteen miles of the place was converted. One night
when I made an appeal to see if we could find anybody that
was unsaved, a white-haired old man got up and said, "I
am the man. I have been watching your meetings. There
was a time when such things moved my heart, but I kept
trifling with the monitions of the Spirit of God that im-
pelled me to turn to Christ and be saved, and in one meeting
after another I resisted and said, *No, No, No,' and at last,
as if God had said to me, 'Your no shall be forever,' all
feelings in that direction were taken away from me, and as
I stand up here before you tonight telling you this experi-
ence, you see a man doomed, without hope of mercy, simply
because the Spirit of God, who alone can lead a man to
salvation, has departed from me forever." It made a
solemn impression.
We notice now that the spirit can't be reached by music,
even when God is in the music, and hence there is an attempt
to destroy David's Hfe. The next step is found in verse 12.
That tells us that Saul was afraid because God's Spirit was
on David, and had left him. There is one of the conse-
quences that the Spirit of God has left — fear. He was
afraid, and he was afraid of David, so he takes another
step to destroy David. He removed him from office near
his person and gave him a position in the firing line of the
army, not to honor David by that promotion, but the text
tells us he did it in the hope that David may perish by the
hands of the Philistines, in some of the fights. We have
an old saying coming from Virgil, ^'Beware of the Greeks
LOVE AND HATE 113
bringing gifts.'* That was said when they left the Trojans
that great wooden horse, which had 500 Greeks hidden in
it. It was so large they could not bring it in through the
gates, and had to break down the wall to get it in, and that
night the Greeks came out of the horse and opened the
gates and the city was taken. And that was Saul's mean-
ing when he promoted David to this high office in his service.
He meant to destroy him by it. ^
The next step in the progress is in verse 15. When Saul
saw that David acted very wisely in the new position he
was "more afraid." David didn't get killed. God took
care of him, and he acted so wisely in the administration of
the new office that it increased Saul's fear.
We come to verse 17, and ask what next Saul will do?
What of this hate of his? To what expedient will he now
resort? He approaches David secretly through his officers,
as though he was conferring another great honor on him.
and offers his daughter in marriage. He should be the
son-in-law of the king if he will give — not money for her
dowry, for David did not have it — but "Kill me 100 Philis-
tines and bring evidence that you have killed them and com-
plete the tally" — that is, let the number be counted. Now
what was his object? He didn't want David in his family,
but he would set a snare by the use of his own daughter,
and the object of it would be to put David in a position of
personal danger. Saul's thought was that in fighting the
100 Philistines some one would kill him.
Verse 20 shows progress again. "And when Saul saw it
was Jehovah with David, and that all the people of Israel
loved him, he was more afraid." Your text says that
Michal loved him. The real text is, "When Saul saw that
Jehovah was with him and that all the people loved him he
was more afraid." Notice the progress, and that is this
evil spirit in Saul increasing his madness, and they try the
music remedy one more time. So David is sent for to play
114 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
before Saul, and again the evil spirit prompts Saul, and he
thrusts a javelin at him the second time. David saw that
he could not longer fool with that kind of situation and he
left and went to his own private house. There is a Hmit
to the power of music. True, Shakespeare says,
"A man who has no music in his soul,
Nor concord of sweet sound,
Is fit for treason, stratagems and spoils."
The next step in the progress of that hate is in chapter
19. Saul called Jonathan to him and certain of his officers
and gave them a peremptory command to execute David.
Jonathan says, "Father, what hath he done? He doesn't
deserve death. He hath never done you any harm. Why
should David be slain ?" The pleading of the beloved Jona-
than prevails. When Jonathan so humbly pleads, Saul's
heart melts and David comes back and heads the whole
army and wins another glorious victory over the Philistines.
And now Saul's hate will not respect the pleading of Jona-
than, so David went to his home saying that he could not
stay near Saul without provoking death.
Then follows an incident that David commemorates in the
Psalms. They surround his house. One of the most des-
picable acts of tyranny is what is called "domiciliary visi-
tation." Man's home is regarded as his castle, and when
the privacy of his home is invaded by espionage or by an
attempt to take life on his own hearthstone, there is no
step beyond that a tyrant can go. Revolution comes when
that is attempted. That is why the Huguenots left France ;
the dragoons were stationed in their homes, and the privacy
of the home was violated. They could not even in private
whisper to each other but the words were heard by some
of these spies and reported. In the Declaration of Inde-
pendence that is one of the accusations against the king
— that he had stationed troops in private houses without
LOVE AND HATE 115
the consent of the people. It made a marvelous impression
on David's mind that night when he looked out and saw the
sentinels all around his house. David's wife helps him that
time. She says, "If you don't escape tonight, tomorrow
you will be a dead man," and a woman when she is stirred
up in a matter and puts her wits to work is not easy to
thwart. So she puts a teraphim — a wooden image — in
David's bed and tied a wig or something over it and wrapped
the image up to represent a man sleeping, and when the
soldiers came in to arrest David she said, "You see he is
sleeping," and they waited till morning and David got away.
QUESTIONS
1. What textual difficulty in I Sam. i8, and what the discussion
thereon ?
2. What the meaning of the old English word, "tale," and what
other English word is derived from it?
3. What the meaning of the old English word, "set," in the phrase,
"much set by," in I Sam. 18 : 30?
4. What the meaning of the word, "artillery," as used in this
connection ?
5. What the meaning of the word, "let," as used by Paul in Rom.
1 : 13, and what the lessons of these uses of the words, "tale," "set,"
"artillery," and "let?"
6. What chapters of I Samuel should be studied as one section,
and why?
7. What the great lessons of these chapters?
8. In what two respects is David's self-restraint under these per-
sistent and murderous attacks of Saul without a parallel, and what
two great men under less provocation became traitors to their native
land?
9. ^ What the difficulty in Job's mind, and what instance in the
classics referred to in illustrating it?
10. What the origin of Saul's hate, and what the first expression
of it?
11. What the words which so graphically describe Saul's hate, and
the counter-progress of David's wisdom?
12. What saying of our Lord shows the fearful state of a man who
allows an exorcised demon to re-enter the soul?
13. Show by David's music, Jonathan's intercession, and the gift
of prophesying that what expels the demon the first time will not
avail the second time.
14. Quote the stanza given to illustrate the sin against the Holy
Spirit.
15. Relate the incident given to illustrate this sin.
116 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
i6. What the steps of progress in Saul's hate of David as revealed
in his efforts to take his life?
17. What does Shakespeare say of a man who has no music in his
soul?
18. In what Psalm does David commemorate the watching around
his house at night?
19. How does David escape from that house, and what later and
greater Saul escaped like David through a window?
20. What illustrations of this incident of watching around David's
house in later history?
XII
SAUL'S MURDEROUS PURSUIT OF DAVID
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 87-91
LET us trace in the Old Testament the usage of the
word, "teraphim," which occurs in chapter 19 : 13 :
"And Michal took the teraphim, and laid it in the
bed, and put a pillow of goat's hair at the head thereof and
covered it with the clothes," answering this five-fold ques-
tion: (i) Is the word, "teraphim," ever used in a good
sense? (2) What was it? (3) Was its use a violation of
the first or the second commandment? (4) What the
meaning of such an image being in David's house? (5)
Show how in history the use of images became a dividing
line between Protestants and Romanists, and what the
danger of their use even as a help toward the worship of
God.
We find the first use of it in Genesis 31 : 19, 26, 31 and
34. That chapter shows how Jacob and his wives and chil-
dren and property left his father-in-law, Laban, on their
return to the Holy Land, and that Rachel stole her father's
"teraphim;" and when Laban pursues, as we find in the
same chapter, it is one of his accusations against Jacob that
he had stolen his household gods. Jacob invites him to
make a search and Rachel puts them under a camel-saddle
and sits down on the saddle and won't get up, and so Laban
can't find them. Then, in Genesis 35 : 2 Jacob orders all
of his family to put away those false gods.
The next use of the word comes in Judges 17 and 18.
The history is this: Micah, in the days of the judges, makes
117
118 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
to himself molten and graven images and teraphim and puts
them in a separate room in his house, i.e., has a little temple,
and consecrates his own son to be a priest, but eventually
there comes along a Levite, who is a descendant of Moses
through Gershom, and Micah employs this Levite on a salary
to be his priest and to conduct his worship through these
images graven, molten and the teraphim, using an ephod.
A little later the Danites on their migration capture all
these household gods of Micah, and the priest as well.
Micah pursues and complains that they robbed him of his
gods. The Danites advise him to go home and keep his
mouth shut, and in the meantime they capture Laish in the
northern part of the Holy Land and set up these same
images and use that same descendant of Moses with the
ephod to seek Jehovah through those images.
The next time we findi the word is in this section, where
Michal took a teraphim and put it in David's bed and made
it look like somebody asleep. The next usage of the word
is found in H Kings 23 : 24, in the early part of the great
reformation led by King Josiah, who, after the law of the
Lord had been found, causes all Judah to put away the
teraphim and everything that was contrary to the Mosaic
law.
We find it next in order of time in Hosea 3 : 4, where a
prediction is made that Israel for a long time shall be with-
out king or ephod or teraphim, and the last use is in Ezek.
21 :22, 23. Ezekiel in exile shows how the king of Babylon
came to the forks of the road and used divinations, etc., by
the use of teraphim.
The word is never used in a good sense. Jehovah ap-
points His own way of approach to Him and of ascertaining
the future, condemning the use of teraphim in approaching
Him. Even that passage in Hosea only shows that after
the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, the Jews for a long
time — the present time included — will have no king, no
SAUL'S PURSUIT OF DAVID 119
ephod, no teraphim. That is, they would in no sense be
idolaters, and yet their worship of Jehovah for this long
period — including the present time — will be empty and vain
until just before the millennial times, when they in one day
accept the long-rejected Messiah.
A teraphim is an image, but it is distinguished from
graven or molten images in two particulars : ( i ) it is carved
out of wood; (2) it always represented a human form,
whereas the graven and molten images were always of metal
and oftenest took the form of the lower animals, like the
calf that Aaron made at Sinai, and the calves set up by
Jeroboam at Dan and Bethel. To make the distinction
clearer by a passage in the New Testament, the image of
the great goddess Diana at Ephesus (Acts 19) which was
said to have fallen down from heaven, was a teraphim ; that
is, was a wooden image in human form and a very ugly one,
but the little silver shrines of the temple of Diana made by
Demetrius, the silversmith, and other silversmiths, were
either graven or molten images.
Another distinction is that the graven and the molten
images were oftenest worshiped as gods, the teraphim often-
est used as a method of approach to their gods, and both of
them were violations of the second commandment.
The teraphim in David's house was Michal's, not David's,
as the stolen teraphim of Laban's was Rachel's and not
Jacob's. There is no evidence that either Jacob or David
ever resorted to teraphim or favored their use.
Coming now to the last part of the question, one of the
chief issues between the Protestants and the Romanists in
the Reformation was that the Romanists multiplied images
in their worship — metallic or wooden images. For instance,
an image of Jesus on the cross, an image of the Virgin
Mary, the cross itself, or the image of some saint. These,
when carved out of wood representing human form, were
teraphim, but when they were made out of metal were
120 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
graven or molten images. While the better and more
learned class of the Romanists only use these images as
objective aids to worship, the masses of the people become
image worshipers, bowing down before the image of the
Virgin Mary and ascribing adoration to her and praying
to her, and ascribing all the grace of salvation to her. Even
the pope himself says, in one of his proclamations, that the
fountain of all grace is in Mary. In this way they violate
that fundamental declaration of our Lord that God is a
Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in
spirit and in truth. The Greek word, eikon, an image,
equals in sense the Hebrew word, "teraphim," and other
images, so when the Protestants, in their fury against what
they called idolatry, would break up these images wherever
they found them they were called "iconoclasts," i.e., "break-
ers of images." Hence, when Charles I wrote that famous
book, "Eikon," Oliver Cromwell demanded of Milton that
he write a reply to it, and he named his reply "Iconoclast,"
a breaker of the image. The image question is a big one
in history.
There is a relation to that teraphim of Michal and her
wifely relation to David. It showed that while indeed she
loved David when he was a prosperous man, she had no
sympathy with his religion, nor was she willing to share
his exile and its sufferings. She could never say to him
what Ruth said to Naomi: "Entreat me not to leave thee,
nor cease from following after thee; for where thou lodgest
I will lodge, thy people shall be my people, and thy God
my God. Where thou diest I will die, and there will I be
buried." When David's fortunes were eclipsed she readily
enough consented to become the wife of another man, to
whom her father gave her, and whom she loved more than
she had ever loved David. When David, after he became
king, sent for her to be returned to him, as we learn from
II Sam. 3, she came unwillingly, and at a still later date
SAUL'S PURSUIT OF DAVID 1^1
when David brought the Ark from Kirjath-jearim to put
it in Jerusalem and participated in the reHgious exercises of
the day, Michal looked out of the window and saw him and
despised him, and when he came in she broke out on him
in scornful speech, mocking him for the part he had taken
in that day's religious service. When a wife differs so
radically from her husband in his religion as Michal did, the
marital relation is much affected by it.
The reconciliation of the declaration in II Sam. 6 : 23 that
Michal to the day of her death had no children, with the
declaration in chapter 21:8 that there were five sons of
Michal, is this : In the second passage the word Michal
should be Merab, the older sister of Michal, who was
married to Adriel, the Meholathite, and bare him five
sons who were gibbeted to appease the wrath of the
Gibeonites.
Fleeing from Saul, David rightly seeks refuge with
Samuel at Ramah, and Samuel took him to Naioth of
Ramah. Being banished from the king, quite naturally
and appropriately he sought the prophet, and when he came
to Samuel, the prophet took him from Ramah to Naioth;
that means the Seminary buildings where the school of the
prophets was assembled, as if we had said, "He went from
Waco to Ft. Worth and to Naioth of Ft. Worth," i.e., the
Seminary of Ft. Worth. That is a very important passage.
It refers to the buildings in which the school of the prophets
assembled for instruction.
But Saul's relentless hate toward David manifested itself
in this place of refuge. Hearing that David was there, he
sent messengers to take him, but when the messengers
came within the orbit of influence of that school of the
prophets the spirit of the prophets fell on the messengers
and they prophesied. This happened three times in suc-
cession. Finally Saul came himself, and it fell on him so
violently that he tore off his outer clothing and in an
122 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
ecstasy of prophesying fell down in a trance before Samuel
and remained in that helpless condition all night long.
The compliment to Naioth is this: A nuimber of God's
people, together studying His word, filled with His Spirit,
the spiritual atmosphere of the place becomes a bar against
the approach of evil. The evil-minded who come to mock
remain to pray. I have seen revival meetings get to such
power that emissaries of the devil, children of Belial, who
would come there to break up the meeting, would be over-
powered by its force. That was notably illustrated in the
early days of Methodism, and particularly in the rise of the
Cumberland Presbyterians. My son has given a very vivid
account of that time, and of how wicked men would be
seized with jerks and finally fall helpless into a trance when
they attended these revival meetings.
The main points of David's next attempt at self-protec-
tion are as follows: Doubtless through Samuel's advice,
David, while Saul lay in that trance, left Naioth and went
back to make another appeal to Jonathan. The reason
that he did this was that Jonathan, in his first intercession
in behalf of David, had succeeded in pacifying the wrath
of his father toward him. Their meeting is graphically
described in the text. There isn't a more touching passage
in any piece of history than Jonathan's solemn promise
that if his father meant evil that he would inform David,
and the plan they arranged to test whether Jonathan's sec-
ond attempt would be successful.
With the Jews the new moon was a Sabbath, no matter
on what day of the week it came, and they had a festival,
and there was one just ahead. On these new moon festivals
all of the official household of Saul had to be present, so
it was arranged that when Saul observed that David's place
was vacant at that festival and he made inquiry about it,
Jonathan would say, "He asked me to give him permission to
go to his brother's house and partake in the new moon sacri-
SAUL'S PURSUIT OF DAVID ns
fices at home with his family," then if Saul manifested no
anger, that would be a sign that David could return. So
on the second day of the new moon festival, Saul looked
around, and seeing David's seat empty on such an important
occasion, directly asked Jonathan where he was, and Jona-
than told him, according to the arrangement made with
David, at which Saul became furious against Jonathan and
denounced him in awful language, and when Jonathan
makes his last appeal, Saul hurls a javelin at him. Jonathan,
insulted, outraged, gets up and leaves the table and goes
out and shows David that it will never do to return to Saul,
that he must seek refuge elsewhere, and they renew their
covenant. Jonathan says, ''I know you will be king, and I
will be next to you, and when you arei king be good to my
family." We will have some sad history on that later,
about whether David did fulfill his solemn pledge to Jona-
than to be good to Jonathan's family when David had the
power.
David next seeks refuge at Nob, where the priests and
the tabernacle were — not the Ark — that was at Kirjath-
jearim — but the priests were assembled in the village of
Nob with the high priest. David came, and did not relate
to the priests the malice of Saul toward him, but came worn
out, exhausted, famished with hunger, and the priest gives
him to eat of the shew bread, unlawful for any but a priest
to eat. The priest inquires through the Ephod what David
wants to find out from Jehovah, and gives to him the sword
of Goliath. You know I gave you a direction to trace that
sword of Goliath's ; to ascertain what became of it. It had
been carried to the tabernacle at Nob, and the priest gave
it to David. David left there because he saw a rascal in
the crowd, Doeg, the Edomite, one of Saul's "lick-spittle"
followers, and he said to the high priest, "That fellow will
tell all of this to Saul when he gets back home."
The New Testament reference to that is when the Phari-
lU THE HEBREW MONARCHY
sees were springing questions on our Lord He showed them
that the Sabbath law, Hke other laws, always had exceptions
in cases of judgment, mercy and necessity. Though it be
the Sabbath day when a man found an ass crushed under
his burden or an ox in the ditch, he must work to relieve
that poor beast, so, while it was against the law for anybody
but a priest to eat the shew bread, yet, in a case of necessity,
David being famished, the priest did right to give him the
shew bread and he did right to eat it.
What the result? We learn that when this Doeg went
back and told Saul, he sent for the whole family of the
priests and they came, and he demanded why they had shel-
tered and fed his enemy and used the Ephod in his behalf.
The high priest explained. Saul told him that everyone of
them should die, but he could find no officer who would put
them to death. It seemed to be sacrilegious, until Doeg,
this Edomite, took great pleasure in killing the last one of
them. Then Saul sent and destroyed, root and branch,
women and children, the entire village and all the priests
at Nob.
David's next attempt to find a refuge failed, but he suc-
ceeded later. He went to Achish, the king of the Philistines
at Gath, and they were not ready to greet him. They be-
lieved that he came upon an evil mission. They said he
was the man that had brought all the ruin on the Philistines,
concerning whom the women sang, "Saul hath slain his
thousands, and David his ten thousands." To preserve him-
self from the danger of death that threatened him he feigned
madness, and so deceived the king. A North American In-
dian would have done the same thing. They never shoot or
strike the insane, believing them under the hand of a spirit.
David's next effort at self -protection was at the cave of
Adullam, and the record states that everyone that was in
distress or in debt or discontented gathered unto him and
he became a captain over them. Quite a number of mighty
SAUL'S PURSUIT OF DAVID 125
men, the greatest fighters then known to the world, came to
him. A company came to him from Judah and Benjamin ;
his father's household came, fearing that Saul would destroy
them, so that he organized a fighting force of four hundred
men that has never been equaled by the same number of
men. A little later we will see that it had grown to 600
men by other accessions. All of them were heroes and
great fighters. Then there came to him Abiathar, the last
one of the high priest's family when Saul had destroyed
the village of Nob, and there came to him some of the
prophets, especially Gad, who remains with him all the
time, and who wrote a part of the history we are discussing.
So that cave was the scene of the change in the fortunes
of David. It makes little difference now whether he stays
in Judah or goes anywhere else with that crowd back of
him ; nobody is able to harm him. It was at this time that
he took his father and mother, who were old and couldn't
move swiftly with his fighting force, over to Moab, across
the Jordan, doubtless relying upon the fact that Ruth, the
Moabitess, was an ancestor of his, and the king of Moab
sheltered the father and mother of David; but Gad, the
prophet, admonishes David to leave Moab and go back
to Judah. God would take care of him in his own land if
he trusted Him, and so he went back to Judah.
In view of Moab's kindness to David's family, the Jews
acquit David of the severe measures adopted by him toward
the Moabites at a later day, to the history of which we will
come later. They say that the king of Moab murdered
David's father and mother who had been left in his charge,
and that David swept them with fire and sword for it when
he got to them.
The great sermons in our day which have been preached
on this part of David's career are: (i) Melville's sermon on
David's feigning madness at the court of Achish. A re-
markable sermon. (2) Spurgeon's great sermon on the
126 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
Cave of Adullam from the text, "And every one that was in
distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that
was discontented, gathered themselves unto him, and he
became a captain over them." Spurgeon used that to illus-
trate how a similar class of people gathered around Christ,
and He became a captain over them. Every one that was
in debt, or distress, or sick, or poverty-stricken, whatever
the ailment, or in despair about the affairs of life, came to
Jesus and He became a captain over them. It is a great
sermon.
QUESTIONS
1. Trace in the Old Testament the usage of the word, "teraphim,"
which occurs in chapter 19: 13: "And Michal took the teraphim, and
laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goat's hair at the head thereof
and covered it with the clothes," answering the following questions :
(i) Is the word, "teraphim," ever used in a good sense? (2) What
was it? (3) Was its use a violation of the first or second command-
ment? (4) What is the meaning of such an image being in David's
house? (5) Show how in history the use of images became a dividing
line between Romanists and Protestants, and what the danger of their
use, even as a help toward the worship of God.
2. What bearing has Michal's teraphim on her wifely relation
to David, and what the proofs in later times ? Reconcile II Sam. 6 : 2^
with II Sam. 21 : 8.
3. Fleeing from Saul, with whom does David rightly seek refuge,
and what the distinction between Ramah and Naioth in chap.
19: 18, 19?
4. How does Saul's relentless hate toward David manifest itself
in this place of refuge, what the result, and what the compliment
to Naioth?
5. Give the main points of David's next attempt at self-protection,
show why he resorted to it, and what the issue.
6. With whoni next does David seek refuge, what the main
incidents, what the New Testament reference thereto, why did David
leave that refuge, and what the results to the priests for sheltering
him?
7. What was David's next attempt to find a refuge, why did it fail
this time but succeed later, what was David's expedient to escape
from the danger, and why did that expedient succeed?
8. What was David's next effort at self-protection, what accessions
came to him, and what was the result on his future fortunes?
9. In view of the Moab's kindness to David's family, how do the
Jews acquit David of the severe measures adopted by him toward
the Moabites at a later day?
10. What great sermons in our day have been preached on this
part of David's career?
XIII
DAVID AND HIS INDEPENDENT ARMY; THE
END OF THE DUEL WITH SAUL
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 91-96
THIS section is very thrilling, containing many stirring
adventures and hair-breadth escapes, showing the
play of the mighty passions of love and hate, and
treachery and loyalty. It contains the farewell between
David and Jonathan in their last interview; the farewell
between David and Saul; the death of Samuel and the en-
gaging story of David and Abigail. No novel that I have
ever read has incidents so romantic in nature as this section.
The turn in the fortunes of David comes at the Cave of
Adullam. He is no longer a solitary fugitive. His helpers
were:
1. An armed corps, small indeed in number, but un-
equaled in history as a mobile fighting force, who had gath-
ered around him. Never before nor since have more heroes
and champions been found in a band of 400, rapidly re-
cruited to 600. As is quite natural, some of them are both
desperate and evil characters. They harbor in caves or
sleep under rocks, and from the mountain tops, like eagles
in their eyries, survey all the mountain passes, ready to
swoop down on their Philistine-prey or to make timely
escape from Saul's forces, which they will not fight through
David's loyalty.
2. The son of the high priest with the Ephod, fleeing
from Saul's murderous slaughter of his brethren at Nob,
has turned to David, supplying his greatest need, that is,
127
128 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
a means of communication with Jehovah, now forever denied
to Saul. Through this means he easily learns what no
earthly wisdom or system of espionage could discover — the
very hearts and secret purposes of his enemies.
3. The school of the prophets, Jehovah's mouthpieces,
are for him, and Gad, their great representative, acts as his
daily counsellor — Gad who shall become one of the histo-
rians of his life.
David at this time evinced the most exalted patriotism.
Though pursued by Saul's relentless hate, he never at any
time, employs his fighting force against Israel, nor ever
harms Saul's person, though it is twice within his power,
but ever watching, he protects defenceless cities of his
people by smiting their Philistine invaders, preserves the
exposed farms and folds of the villages from their maraud-
ing bands. Not all Saul's army is such a defence of Israel
as David's immortal 600. And this he did continuously,
though every blow he struck for his people only advertised
his whereabouts to Saul, and brought on immediately a
man-hunt by Saul and his army. There is no parallel to
these facts in history. If, when the "swamp-fox," Francis
Marion, by creeping out of his secret places of retirement
advertised his whereabouts by smiting a British or Tory
force, Washington, Gates, Greene or Morgan had detached
a flying column to cut off Marion, then that would have
been a parallel.
An example of this patriotism of David, and the ungrate-
ful return to him is found in this section. From it we learn
that when David, at a hazard so great that his own daunt-
less champions advised against it, under the guidance of
Jehovah left the safer territory of Judah and braved with
his 600 the whole Philistine army to rescue Keilah, Saul,
informed of his presence there, summoned his whole army
to besiege David in that city, and only through timely knowl-
edge, communicated through the high priest's Ephod, did
DAVID AND HIS ARMY 129
David escape the enmity of Saul and the purposed treachery
of the men of Keilah whom he had just preserved.
A parallel in later days shows that information from
Jehovah concerning the secret purposes of men eclipsed all
knowledge to be derived from spies, and so saved the king
of Israel. This parallel we find in II Kings 6:8-12. The
king of Syria, at war with the king of Israel (by Israel in
that place is meant the ten tribes that went off from Reho-
boam), in private counsel with his officers, would designate
a place where he would establish his camps in order to
entrap the king of Israel. As soon as he had designated
where these trap-camps would be placed, Elisha, God's
prophet, sent information to the king of Israel to beware
of these places, and thus more than twice the king of Israel
was saved. The king of Syria supposed that there was a
traitor in his own camp, and wanted to know who it was
that betrayed every movement that he made. One of his
counsellors replied that there was no traitor in his camp,
but that Elisha, God's prophet, knew every secret thought
of the king's bed-chamber.
I now call attention to the text-difficulty in I Sam. 23 : 6.
The text here says that Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech,
had joined David at Keilah, but chapter 22 : 20-23 shows
that Abiathar had previously joined David at the Cave of
Adullam. The context just above verse 6 shows that David
had inquired of the high priest as to whether he should
go to the rescue of Keilah. The word, "Keilah," in verse 6
ought therefore to be struck out, or else ought to follow
the text of the Septuagint, which reads this way: "And it
came to pass when Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, fled to
David, that he went down with David to Keilah with the
Ephod in his hand." That makes complete sense and retains
the word "Keilah."
David's next refuge from Saul, the description of Saul's
pursuit, and Jehovah's deliverance, are described in just
130 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
two verses of the text, 23:14, 15: "And David abode in
the wilderness in strongholds and remained in the wilder-
ness of Ziph, and Saul sought him every day, but God deliv-
ered him not into Saul's hands. And David saw that Saul
was come out to seek his life, and David was in the wilder-
ness of Ziph in a wood." That does not mean any big trees.
It means thick brush — scrubby brush — as may be seen on
West Texas mountains — shin-oak thickets. I have seen
them so thick it looked like one couldn't stick a butcher
knife in them, and woe to the man who tried to ride through
them!
Just here comes Jonathan's last interview with David,
which is given in three verses, 23:16-18. While Saul is
every day beating that brush to find David and can't find
him, Jonathan finds him and comes to show him that he has
no part in this murderous pursuit of his friend; comes to
tell him that both he and his father know that David will
triumph and become king, and to make a covenant with him
again that when he is king he will remember Jonathan's
house.
Let us now take up David's first escape from the treach-
ery of the Ziphites, and how that escape was commemorated.
Saul couldn't find David in that wood, but the Ziphites (for
it was in the wood of Ziph) knew where he was, and they
told Saul where he was, and so Saul, guided by these treach-
erous Ziphites, summoned an army, completely surrounded
the whole country, and at last got David, as it were, in a
cul-de-sac. That French phrase means, to follow a road
where all egress is blocked, forward or sideways. So there
was just a mountain between Saul and David, and Saul's
army was all around and closing in. The deliverance comes
providentially. Word is brought to Saul that the Philistines
are striking at some place in his territory, and he has to call
his army ofT just before he closes up the trap around David
and go and fight the Philistines ; and your record says that
DAVID AND HIS ARMY 131
place is renamed in commemoration this simple word, **Sela-
hammahlekoth," which means ''the rock of escape." If you
were to visit the place the guide will show you today ''Sela-
hammahlekoth" — the rock of escape.
David's next refuge from Saul was at the town of Engedi.
The name is today preserved in the Aramaic form, "Ain
Jidy." It is thought to be the oldest town in the world. The
Genesis record of the days of Abraham says that Chedor-
laomer led his army by Engedi. It was a town whose in-
habitants saw the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,
lying right below in the valley. It has been passed by a
thousand armies. It means the "fountain of goats." Burst-
ing out of the mountain side is a spring of considerable vol-
ume, and from that flows the stream "Engedi," which, with
two others, makes a little oasis there just above the Dead
Sea — one of the most beautiful in the world; the finest
vines, the most beautiful palm trees, and right up above,
on the mountain side, are hundreds of caves, some of them
so deep that they are as dark as the pit right at the mouth.
A man standing in the light at the entrance cannot see any-
thing within, but one hidden back a Httle distance can see dis-
tinctly anybody coming in. Nearly everybody that visits the
Holy Land makes a pilgrimage to these famous caves, and
if you are disposed to read the results of modern research
with reference to the place you will find some very fine ref-
erences in the following books : Thompson's "Land and the
Book," from which we have had quotations; Robinson's
"Researches in Bible Lands;" Tristan's "Land of Israel;"
and one of the best is McGarvey's "Travels in the Holy
Land.'* McGarvey is a Disciples theologian in Kentucky,
and his is about the best book on the Holy Land extant.
You will also find a very graphic account of these caves in
Stanley's "Sinai and Palestine." The record tells us that
Saul, in pursuit of David, while his army is scattered about
searching for him, comes to one of these caves, and enters
132 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
in, and David is in there at the time with some of his brav-
est men, and he, being in the dark, can see Saul plainly, and
slips up and cuts off a piece of Saul's cloak. One of his
men wants him to kill Saul : "Now is your chance ; this is
the chance God has promised you; your enemy is in your
power; smite him." But David would not do so. When
Saul goes out of the cave David slips to the front, and from
a high rock holds up that piece of skirt and calls to Saul,
your text telling better than I can the thrilling way he
reproached Saul for his pursuit of him, that he has never
done him any harm, and that Saul was pursuing him to
death without any cause.
We now come to a strange but certainly true thing. I
will read what David said and Saul's reply. It is Saul's
reply that I want you to particularly notice. David said,
"Wherefore hearest thou men's words saying, Behold David
seeketh thy hurt," then closes up by saying, "The Lord judge
between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee, but
my hand shall not be upon thee." Listen at Saul's reply:
"Thou art more righteous than I" — standing there weeping
now and saying this — "for that thou hast rewarded me
good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil; and thou hast
showed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me,
forasmuch as when the Lord had delivered me into thy
hand thou killedst me not ; for if a man findest his enemy,
will he let him go well away; wherefore the Lord reward
thee good for what thou hast done unto me this day. And
now, behold I know well that thou shalt surely be king
and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine
hand; swear thou therefore, unto me by the Lord that thou
wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not
destroy my name out of my father's house." That sounded
like penitence, but it was not. If it was you would not see
Saul pursuing him again, but it was temporary remorse,
such as wicked men often evince. It is an Oriental cus-
DAVID AND HIS ARMY 133
torn that when a new king comes in he kills all the family
of the one he succeeds, and that is what Saul fears,
and David never did kill any of them after he became
king.
It is evident from 24 : 9 and 26 : 19 that some persistent,
insidious slanderer, ever at Saul's side, kept his wrath stirred
up against David, and like a sinister lago played upon Saul's
weakness, ever fanning by whisperings the flame of his
jealousy. You would never know the name of this secret
assassin of character from the history. But his name and
character are pilloried in the immortal songs of his would-be
victim, and all the vileness of his demoniacal nature memo-
rialized to the end of time. What is his name, and in what
song commemorated? Just at this juncture Samuel, the
great prophet — the greatest man next to Moses since Abra-
ham's day, dies. Later we will have an analysis of his
character.
An example of David's protection of the villages and
farms is seen in the case of the rich man named Nabal
("Nabal" means "fool"), about whom his wife says later,
"His name is Nabal and he is Nabal." There wouldn't
have been a sheep left in his flock nor a cow left to give
him milk but for the protection extended by David's band.
The herdsmen say, "David's band has been a wall about
us." David's men never took any of his property. Hungry
though they were, they never killed one of his sheep nor
one of his cattle. Passing bands of marauders would have
swept away every vestige of his property, but David's men
beat them off.
Now, on a festival, sheep-shearing day, David's men,
being weary and hungry, David sends ten men to Nabal,
giving him an opportunity to at least feed one time the men
that had protected him for the year, and Nabal's reply is:
"What is the son of Jesse to me that I should take my
property and feed his straggling crowd?'* There are such
134 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
rich men now, and no wonder they are hated. There was
a time in the early history of Texas when volunteer rangers
protected all the exposed settlements with their flocks and
herds. A man whose home and stock had been so preserved,
who would deny hospitality to the unpaid rangers would
have been held as infamous. Indeed, in all our West Texas
history there never was one Nabal.
These ten men went back and reported to David, and
this time he didn't consult either priest or prophet, but,
boiling over in wrath, announced his purpose of not leaving
a man alive in Nabal's entire household, and goes to smite
him with 400 of his picked men. One of the servants of
Nabal had apprehended just such a state of affairs and had
told Abigail, the wife of Nabal, whereupon she, recognizing
David as God's anointed, as the champion of Israel, as the
one about whom all true souls should be thinking, having
faith in the promises of God concerning him, took a mag-
nificent donation and hurried with it and met David coming
blazing in wrath. The woman leaped down from the beast
she was riding and made a speech that has never yet had
an equal.
You remember how I called your attention to the famous
speech in Scott's "Heart of Midlothian" by Jeanie Deans,
but this beats that. I haven't time to analyze the speech;
you have the record of it before you, but there never was
more wisdom put into a few words. She shows David that
the wrong done is inexcusable, but tells him to charge it to
her, although she had nothing to do with it ; tells him that
so great a man as he is, God's vicegerent, should not take
vengeance in his own hands ; that the day will come in his
later life when he will look back with regret at the blood
on his hands if he takes such a vengeance, and asks him to
leave Nabal's punishment to God. David was charmed with
her and did everything she said. She went back home sad
at heart, as many a good woman married to a bad man has
DAVID AND HIS ARMY 135
to do. Nabal was on a spree. She didn't tell him any-
thing until the next mornings and as she told him what had
transpired God smote him with apoplexy and a few days
later — about ten days — smote him again so that he died,
whereupon David sends for Abigail and marries her and at
the same time marries another woman, plurality of wives
prevailing in that day. Many preachers have preached ser-
mons, some of them foolish and some of them really great,
on "Nabal, the churl."
The incidents of the last meeting of Saul and David are
pathetic. The Ziphites conspire again against David, and
tell Saul where to find him. David sends out his spies and
learns of Saul's approach and easily evades him; then,
taking just one man with him, Abishai, the fiery son of his
sister Zeruiah, his nephew (you will hear about him often-
times later), goes into the camp of Saul with his 3,000
picked veterans. Saul is sleeping, and Abner, his great gen-
eral, sleeping by him, and Abishai, following his nature, says,
"Now let me kill him." David says, "No, you shall not
strike him; he is the anointed king; leave him to God,"
and simply took Saul's spear and cruse — his water vessel
— and when he had got out of the camp he cried out to
Abner and mocked him : "What a guardian of your king,
that you let somebody come right into your camp and come
right up to the person of your king! Behold the spear
and cruse of Saul ! You ought to be ashamed of yourself."
Saul hears David, and now comes that strange language
again. I want you to notice it again: "And Saul knew
David's voice, and said, Ts this thy voice, my son David?'
(as you know, David was his son-in-law). And David
said, Tt is my voice, my lord, O king.' And he said, 'Where-
fore doth my lord pursue after his servant? for what have
I done? or what evil is in mine hand? Now therefore, I
pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his ser-
vant. If Jehovah hath stirred thee up against me let Him
136 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
accept an offering: but if it be the children of men, cursed
be they before Jehovah/ "
Now comes a passage that we will have to explain in
the next chapter: "For they have driven me out this day
from abiding in the inheritance of Jehovah, saying, Go,
serve other gods. Now therefore, let not my blood fall to
the earth before the face of Jehovah, for the king of Israel
is come to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge
in the mountains." This is a very undignified thing for a
king to do — to go out flea-hunting; go to chasing a part-
ridge. "Partridge" there is what we call a "blue quail."
They seldom fly, but they can run, and anyone who hunts
them has to be very fast ; hence the beauty of the illustra-
tion. Saul says, "I have sinned." (You remember he said
that to Samuel.) "Return, my son David, for I will no
more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine
eyes this day, and behold I have played the fool, and have
erred exceedingly." David didn't trust him. Saul con-
cludes, "Blessed be thou, my son, David; for thou shalt
both do great things and also shalt prevail." So David
went his own way, and Saul returned to his place. They
never meet again. The pursuit is ended. We end this
chapter with the end of the duel between Saul and David.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the interest of this section?
2. From what point and place comes the turn in the fortunes of
David, and who were his helpers ?
3. How does David at this time evince the most exalted patriotism ?
4. What parallel in history to these facts?
5. Cite an example of this patriotism of David, and show the
ungrateful return to him?
6. Cite a parallel in later days to show that^ information from
Jehovah concerning the secret purposes of men eclipsed all knowledge
to be derived from spies, and so saved the king of Israel.
7. Explain the text-difficulty in I Sam. 23 : 6.
8. Where was David's next refuge from Saul, what the description
of Saul's pursuit, and what Jehovah's deliverance?
9. Describe Jonathan's last interview with David.
DAVID AND HIS ARMY 137
10. Describe David's first escape from the treachery of the
Ziphites, and how that escape was commemorated.
11. What was David's next refuge from Saul, what the history
of the place, and what has modern research to say about it?
12. What the events there, and what illustrations therefrom?
13. What man, greatest next to Moses since Abraham's day, dies
at this juncture?
14. Cite an example of David's protection of the villages and
farms, giving the main incidents in the thrilling story of David and
Abigail, and illustrate by Texas free rangers.
15. Describe the incidents of the last meeting of Saul and David.
XIV
ZIKLAG, ENDOR AND GILBOA
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 96-102
LET us analyze David's sin of despair, and give the
train of sins and embarrassments that follow. The
first line tells us of his sin of despair, I Sam. 27 : i :
**And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day
by the hand of Saul." It is a sad thing to appear in the
life of David, this fit of the "blues" that came on him, and
was utterly unjustifiable. In fact, he is done with Saul
forever. Saul will never harm him again, and he is very
late in fearing that he will one day perish by the hand of
Saul. It reminds us of Elijah under the juniper tree, pray-
ing that he might die in his despair, when God never in-
tended him to die at all — ^but to take him to heaven without
death. It was unjustifiable because the promises to him
were that he should be king, and he should not have sup-
posed that God's word would fail. It is unjustifiable be-
cause up to this time he had been preserved from every
attack of Saul, and the argument in his mind should be,
"I will be preserved unto the end."
The distrust of God sometimes comes to the best people.
I don't claim to be among the best people. I am an average
kind of a man, trying my level best to do right, and generally
optimistic — and no man is ever whipped until he is whipped
inside, and it is a very rare thing that I am whipped inside.
Whenever I am it lasts a very short time. I don't stay
whipped long. But we may put it down as worthy of con-
sideration in our future life that whenever we get into the
138
ZIKLAG, ENDOR AND GILBOA 139
state of mind the Israelites were in about the Canaanites
— that we are "mere grasshoppers in their sight and in our
own sight," then our case is pitiable. Let us never take
the grasshopper view of ourselves.
That was the first sin, the succumbing of his faith; the
temporary eclipsing of his faith. The next sin is this:
*There is nothing better for me than that I should escape
into the land of the Philistines." Had he forgotten about
God? Had he forgotten that he had tried that Philistine
crowd once and had to get away from there without delay?
Had he forgotten when he went over into Moab and was
told by the prophet to get back to his own country? God
would take care of him. That sin is the child of the
other.
His third sin was that before taking such a decisive step
he didn't ask God — a very unusual thing for him. Gener-
ally when anything perplexed him he called for the Ephod
and the high priest and asked the Lord what he should do,
but he is so unnerved through fear of Saul that he does not
stop to ask what God has to say, and so that is a twin to
the second sin, that was born of the original one. Without
consulting anybody he gathers up his followers with their
women, children and everything that they have, and goes
down to Gath, and there commits his next sin. He makes
an alliance with the king of Gath and becomes tributary
to him.
That in turn leads to another sin. He is bound to fight
against the enemies of God's cause, and so, occupying a
town, Ziklag, bestowed upon him by the Philistine king,
he marches out secretly and makes war on the Geshurites
and Gizzites and Amalekites, and for fear that somebody
would be spared to tell the Philistines that he was killing
their allies, he kills them all, men, women, and children.
Now, if he had been carrying out a plan of Jehovah he
would have been justified, but the record says that he did
14>0 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
it for fear that if he left any one of them alive they would
report the fact to King Achish of Gath.
His next sin is to tell a lie about it. We call it "duplic-
ity," but it was a sure-enough lie. He made the impression
on Achish's mind when he went out on this expedition that
he was going against Judah, which pleased the Philistine
king very much, for if he was fighting against Judah, then
Judah would hate him and the breach would be widened
between him and his own people.
We now come to another sin. Each sin leads to another.
The Philistines determined to make a decisive war against
Saul, and not to approach him in the usual way, but to
follow up the boundary of the Mediterranean Sea and strike
across through the very center of Palestine and cut the
nation in two from the valley of Esdraelon. So Achish
says to David, *'You must go with us. You are our guest
and ally and occupying a town I gave you." So David
marches along with his dauntless 600, and evidently against
the will of his own men, as we will see later. He does go
with the Philistines to the very battlefield, and when they
get there the Philistines, seeing that he is with the court of
the king, object to his presence and will not allow him to
go to the battle with them. So he returned to the land
of the Philistines.
I have no idea that he ever intended to strike a blow
against Saul. I feel perfectly sure of it. When the battle
was raging he would have attacked the Philistines in the
flank with his 600 men, but he made the impression on the
mind of the king that he would fight with them against
Saul. The providence of God kept him from committing
that sin.
These are the six sins resulting from getting into the
wrong place just one time. I don't say he won't get into
the place again, but this time he certainly was cowed. A
man can't commit just one sin. A sin can outbreed an
ZIKLAG, ENDOR AND GILBOA 141
Australian rabbit. The hunter sometimes thinks he sees
just one quail, but whenever he flushes him, behold there
is a pair or maybe a covey! There is a proverb that who-
ever tells a lie ought to have a good memory, else he will
tell some more covering that one up, forgetting his first
statement. I am sorry to bring out this charge against
David, but I will have a much bigger one to bring out before
we are done with him. He is one of the best men that ever
lived, but all the good men that I know have their faults.
/ have never yet been blest with the sight of a sinless
man. I know there are some people who claim to be per-
fect and sinless, but I don't know any who really are.
A great modern sermon was preached on this despair of
David, taking that first line as a text: 'T shall one day
perish by the hand of Saul." The preacher was John
McNeil, who is called the "modern Spurgeon." He has
charge of one of the livest churches in London and has
published several volumes of sermons. This is the first
in one of his books, and it is a great one.
This sin of David was punished in two ways. While he
was off following the Philistines to the battlefield, these
same Amalekites that he had been troubling so much,
swooped down on Ziklag — the town given to David by
Achish — and there being no defenders present, nobody but
the women and children, they burned the town. They
didn't kill any one, but they took all the women and the
children and the livestock and the furniture and everything
— made as clean a sweep as you ever saw, including both
of David's wives, Ahinoam and Abigail. The second pun-
ishment was that his own men, who didn't want to go up
with the Philistines, wanted to stone him for what had
happened when he was gone. His life was in danger.
But he recovered himself from this sin. When he saw
the destruction of Ziklag and the temper of his men, the
text says that David ''greatly encouraged his heart in God
m THE HEBREW MONARCHY
and called for the high priest and the Ephod." What a
pity he hadn't called for him sooner! But God is quick
to answer readily, and forgive His erring children, and to
put away their sin, and the answer comes through the
Ephod to David's questions: "Shall I pursue after this
troop? Shall I overtake them?" and God's answer comes
as quick as lightning, 'Tursue them, for you shall over-
take them and you shall recover all." That was a very fine
reply for a sinner to get when his trouble arose from his
own sin, and so he does pursue them with his 600 men, and
David in pursuit of a foe was like the Texas rangers. If
a man's horse gave out they left it. If a man himself gave
out they left him. They just kept pursuing until they found
and struck the enemy. That was the way with David.
A third of his force, 200 of his brave men, when they
got to a certain stream of water, could not go any further.
He had to leave them and go with just 400 men. Out ip
the desert he finds a slave of one of the Amalekites, an
Egyptian, starving to death. He had had nothing to eat
for three days. David fed him, and asked him if he would
guide them to the camp of the Amalekites. He said he
would if they would never let his master get him again,
and David came upon them while they were feasting and
rejoicing over the great spoils. He killed all of them ex-
cept about 400 young men who rode on camels. They got
away. Camels are hard to overtake by infantry. They are
very swift. And your record says that David recovered
every man, woman and child and every stick of furniture,
besides all the rich spoils these desert pirates had been
gathering in for quite a while, cattle and stock of every
kind.
David made the following judicious uses of the victory :
I. On the return, when they got to where those 200 were
left behind, certain tough characters in his army did not
want the 200 men to share in the spoils. They could have
ZIKLAG, ENDOR AND GILBOA 143
their wives and children, but nothing else. David not only
refused to follow that plan, but established a rule dating
from that time, that whoever stayed behind with the bag-
gage must share equally with those that went to the front.
These men did not want to stay, but they couldn't go any
further.
At the battle of San Jacinto Houston had to sternly detail
a certain number of his men to keep the camp, and they
wept because they were not allowed to go into the battle.
Those men that were detailed to stay in camp ought to be
counted as among the victors of the battle of San Jacinto,
and history so counts them.
2. The second judicious use that he made of the spoils
captured from these Amalekites was to send large presents
to quite a number of the southern cities of Judah that had
been friendly to him and his men. He was always a gen-
erous-hearted man. That made a good deal of capital for
David. Even had he been acting simply as a politician,
that was the wisest thing he could have done. But he simply
followed his heart.
There were great accessions to David at Ziklag. The
text tells us, I Chron. 12: 1-7, that there were about twenty-
three mighty men, some of whom were Benjamites, who
had come from Saul's tribe, and they were right-handed
and left-handed. They could shoot an arrow with either
hand. They could use either hand to sling a stone, and
among these twenty-three were some of the most celebrated
champions of single combat ever known in the world's his-
tory. One of them, Jashobeam, in one fight killed 300 men
with one spear.
SAUL AND THE WITCH OF ENDOR
It is important for us to note just here the Mosaic law
against necromancy, or an appeal to the dead by the living
through a medium, i.e., a wizard, if a man, or a witch, if
144 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
a woman, and wherein lies the sin of necromancy, which
relates exclusively to trying to gather information from the
dead. The law of Moses, in the book of Deuteronomy, is
very explicit that no Israelite should ever try to gather in-
formation from the dead through a wizard or a witch, and
the reason is that hidden things belong to God and revealed
things to us and our children. The only lawful way to
information concerning what lies beyond the grave is an
appeal to Jehovah, and if God does not disclose it, let it
alone. The prophetic teaching on this subject is found in
the famous passage in Isaiah: "Woe to them that seek
to wizards and witches that chirp and mutter. Why should
the living seek unto the dead instead of unto the living
God?"
Early in his reign Saul had rigidly enforced the Mosaic
law putting the wizards and witches to death, or driving
them out of the country.
There are several theories of interpretation concerning
the transaction in I Sam. 28: 11-19, but I will discuss only
three of them. Saul himself goes to the witch of Endor
and asks her to call up Samuel, making an inquiry of the
dead through a medium, wanting information that God had
refused to give him. These are the theories:
I. Some hold that there was no appearance of Samuel
himself nor an impersonation of him by an evil spirit ; that
there was nothing supernatural, but only a trick of im-
posture by the witch, like many modern tricks by mediums
and spirit rappers, and that the historian merely records
what appeared to be on the surface. That is the first theory.
That is the theory of the radical critics, who oppose every-
thing supernatural, and you know without my telling you
what my opinion is of that theory. There are indeed many
tricks of imposture by pretended fortune tellers, and some
of them are marvelous, but such impostures do not account
for all the facts.
ZIKLAG, ENDOR AND GILBOA 145
2. Others hold that there was a real appearance of
Samuel, but the witch didn't bring him up ; she was as much,
if not more, startled than Saul when he came; that God
himself interfered, permitting Samuel to appear to the dis-
comfiture of the witch, who cried out when she saw him,
and to pronounce final judgment on Saul. They quote in
favor of this theory Ezek. 14:3, 7, 8: "Son of man, these
men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the
stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should
I be inquired of at all by them? . . . For every one of the
house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel,
that separateth himself from me, and taketh his idols into
his heart, and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity be-
fore his face, and cometh to the prophet to inquire for him-
self of me ; I, Jehovah, will answer him by myself ; and I
will set my face against that man, and will make him an
astonishment, for a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off
from the midst of my people." They interpret this passage
to mean that when a man violated God's law, as Saul and
this witch did, that God took it upon himself to answer,
and answered through Samuel. •
That theory is the Jewish view throughout the ages. Ac-
cording to the Septuagint rendering of I Chron. 10:13,
"Saul asked counsel of her that had a familiar spirit, and
Samuel made answer to him." It further appears to be the
Jewish view by the apocryphal book Ecclesiasticus 46:20,
which says, "After his death Samuel prophesied and showed
the king his end, and lifted up his voice from the earth in
prophecy." The Jewish view further appears in Josephus,
who thinks that Samuel was really there, but that God sent
him ; not that the witch had brought him up or could do it.
This view was adopted by many early Christian writers;
for example, Justin Martyr, Origen and Augustine, all great
men, and this view is held more and more by modern com-
mentators, among them, for instance, Edersheim, in his
146 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
*' History of Israel," and Kirkpatrick in the Cambridge
Bible, and Blakie in the Expositor's Bible, and Taylor in
his ''History of David and His Times." All those books
I have recommended; they all take that second view.
3. Now here is the third theory of interpretation. First,
there is such a thing as necromancy, in which, through me-
diums possessed of evil spirits, which spirits do impersonate
the dead and do communicate with the living. This theory
holds that the case of Saul and the witch of Endor is in
point — that an evil spirit (for this woman is said to have
had a familiar spirit ; she was possessed with an evil spirit,
and the business of these evil spirits in their demoniacal
possession is to impersonate dead people;) caused the sem-
blance of Samuel to appear and speak through his mouth.
This theory claims that the scripture in Job 3:17, towit:
"When the good man dies he goes where the wicked cease
from troubling and the weary are at rest," could be vio-
lated if this had really been Samuel, who said, ''Wherefore
hast thou disquieted me?" And whoever this man was that
appeared did say that.
H God had sent him he could not very well have used
that language. God had a right to do as He pleased, but
Saul had no right to try to call back a dead man to get
information from him. This theory also claims that the
prophecy pronounced by that semblance of Samuel was not
true, but it would have been true if Samuel had said it.
That prophecy says, ''Tomorrow thou and thy sons shall
be with me," but Saul didn't die until three days later; on
the third day the battle of Gilboa was fought, and that
Samuel, neither dead nor alive, would have told a falsehood.
Very many early Christian writers adopt this theory, among
them Tertullian and Jerome, the author of the Vulgate or
Latin version of the Bible, and nearly all of the reformers,
Luther, Calvin and all those mighty minds that wrought
out the reformation. They took the position that the evil
ZIKLAG, ENDOR AND GILBOA Ul
spirit simulated Samuel. Those who hold to this theory
further say that unless this is an exception, nowhere else
in the Word of God is any man who died mentioned as
coming back with a message to the living except the Lord ;
that He is the first to bring Hfe and immortality to light
through the gospel after He had abolished death. They do
not believe that the circumstances in this case warrant an
exception to the rule that applies to the whole Bible, and
particularly they quote the parable of the rich man and
Lazarus. The rich man asks that Lazarus might go back
to the other world with a message to his brethren, and it
was refused on the ground that they have Moses and the
prophets, and if a man won't hear Moses and the prophets
neither would he hear though one rose from the dead. That
makes a strong case.
Certainly the first theory is not true, and the other two
theories are advocated with such plausibility and force that
I will leave you to take whatever side you please. My own
opinion is that Samuel was not there, but on a matter of
this kind let us not be, dogmatic. Let us do our own think-
ing and we will be in good company no matter which of
these last theories we adopt.
A great many years ago, when spirit rapping was sweep-
ing over the country, it was a custom among Methodist
preachers to tell about visitations they had from the dead,
and warnings that they had received, and J. R. Graves
fought it. He said that it was against the written law of
God, the law of Moses and the prophets and our Lord and
His apostles, and that we didn't need any revelations from
dead people, whereupon a Methodist preacher named Wat-
son challenged him to debate the question and they did
debate it. Graves stood on this position: There isn't a
case in the Bible where one who died was allowed to come
back with a message to the living but Jesus only, and He
is the only traveler that has ever returned from that bourne
148 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
to throw light on the state of the dead. In the debate, of
course, the central case was that of Saul, the witch of Endor
and Samuel. If Watson couldn't maintain himself on that
it was not worth while to go to any other case. Watson
quoted the appearance of Moses and Elijah on the Mount
of Transfiguration. Graves said, "Yes. They did appear,
but they had no message for living people; none for the
apostles." Then he finally made all of his fight on this case.
I read the debate with great interest. It was published, but
it is out of print.
GILBOA
The description of the battle and the results are so ex-
plicit in the text that I refer the reader to the Bible account
of this great battle. But we need to reconcile I Sam. 31 : 4,
5, 6, and I Chron. 10 : 4, 5, 6. Both of these assert that Saul
committed suicide — fell on his sword and died — and that
he did die, with II Sam. i :6-io, where that Amalekite who
brought the news to David of the battle says that he found
Saul wounded, and that Saul asked the Amalekite to kill
him, and that the Amalekite did kill him. The Amalekite
brought also to David a bracelet and a crown that belonged
to Saul. You are asked to reconcile these two statements.
Did Saul commit suicide? We know he tried to do it, but
did he actually commit suicide, or did that Amalekite, after
Saul fell on his sword, find him still alive and kill him?
My answer is that the Amalekite lied. The record clearly
says that Saul did kill himself, and his armor-bearer saw
that he was dead, and every reference in the scriptures is
to the death by his own hand except this one. This Amale-
kite, knowing that Saul and David were in a measure rivals,
supposed that he might ingratiate himself with David if he
could bring evidence that he had killed Saul.
There is no doubt that this Amalekite was there and
found Saul's body, and no doubt he stripped that dead
ZIKLAG, ENDOR AND GILBOA 149
body of the bracelet and the crown, but his story was like
the story of Joe in the "Wild Western Scenes." An Indian
had been killed, stabbed through the heart, and the heart
blood gushing all over the man who slew him. The fight
was so hot that Joe, being a coward, stayed there fighting
the dead Indian, and so they found him there stabbing and
saying that the man that had first stabbed him through
thought he had killed him, but that he was not dead and
had got up and attacked him, and he had been having a
desperate fight with the Indian.
The news of this battle sadly affected Jonathan's son.
Everybody that heard of the battle started to flee across
the Jordan, and the nurse picked up Jonathan's child and
in running dropped him and he fell, and became a cripple
for life. We will have some very interesting things about
this crippled child after a while.
The gratitude and heroism of the men of Jabesh-Gilead
is worthy of note.
The Philistines had cut off Saul's head and sent it back
to the house of their god, and took his armor and hung up
his body and the body of his son Jonathan and the bodies
of the two brothers of Jonathan on the wall of Beth-shan,
and when the men of Jabesh-gilead (who had been deliv-
ered by Saul as the first act of his reign, and who always
remembered him with gratitude) heard that Saul was
killed, they sent out that night their bravest men and took
those bodies down, carried them over the Jordan, burned
them enough to escape recognition, and buried their bones
under a tree. A long time afterwards David had the bones
brought and buried in the proper place. I always think
kindly of those men of Jabesh-gilead.
David's lament over Saul and Jonathan is found in II
Sam. I. That lamentation, expressed in the text, is one
of the most beautiful elegaic poems in the Hterature of
the world. It is found on page lo of the text-book. It is
160 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
not a religious song. It is a funeral song, an elegy, after-
wards called "The Bow," and David had *'the song of the
bow" taught to Israel, referring to Jonathan's bow. I give
just a little of it:
"Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
Who clothed you in scarlet delicately,
Who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel.
How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle !"
Now the tribute to Jonathan :
"Jonathan is slain upon thy high places.
I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan :
Very pleasant hast thou been unto me.
Thy love to me was wonderful,
Passing the love of women."
Every admirer of good poetry bears tribute to this ex-
quisite gem, and it has this excellency : It forgets the faults
and extols the virtues of the dead. Saul had done many
mighty things. That part of Gray's Elegy, "No further
seek his merits to disclose," compares favorably with this.
It is the only elegy equal to David's.
QUESTIONS
1. Analyze David's sin of despair, and in order, the train of sins
and embarrassments that follow.
2. What great modern sermon was preached on the despair of
David, taking this line for a text: "I shall one day perish by the
hand of Saul?"
3. How was this sin of David punished?
4. How does he recover himself from this sin?
5. What judicious uses of the victory did he make?
6. What great accessions to David at Ziklag?
7. What the Mosaic law against necromancy, or an appeal to the
dead by the living through a medium, i. e., a wizard, if a man, or a
witch, if a woman, and wherein lies the sin of necromancy?
8. What the prophetic teaching on this subject?
9. What had Saul done to enforce the Mosaic law?
10. What theories of interpretation concerning the transaction in
I Sam. 28: 11-19?
11. Describe the battle of Gilboa and the results.
12. Reconcile I Sam. 31 : 4. 5, 6 and I Chron. 10 : 4, 5, and 6.
13. How did the news of the battle affect Jonathan's son?
14. Describe the gratitude and heroism of the men of Jabesh-
gilead.
15. How did David lament over Saul and Jonathan, II Sam. i ?
XV
HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION TO II SAMUEL
AND I CHRONICLES
THE Biblical sources of material for a history of the
reign of David is found in II Samuel and I Chroni-
cles. Apart from these two books, the Biblical ma-
terial for an interpretation of this history is: (i) The
Psalter; (2) The utterances of the prophets; (3) New
Testament comment.
The two BibHcal histories of David's reign are independ-
ent histories, composed by different authors, far separated
in time from each other, and with quite distinct purposes.
II Samuel was written by contemporaneous prophets, very
often witnesses and participators in the events related.
Their purpose is to give a simple, connected history of so
many of the events in David's hfe as will reveal the man,
and so much of the monarchy as bears upon the idea of a
theocratic monarchy in its relation to the kingdom of God.
All material irrelevant to that purpose is omitted. Inspira-
tion guides them in the selection of the matter recorded
and in the rejection of the matter omitted, but I Chronicles
was written by Ezra after the downfall of the monarchy
and with a view to establish, on a right foundation, the
hierarchy which succeeds the monarchy, and to comfort the
Jews of the Restoration who have no earthly king or earthly
kingdom by turning their minds toward the coming of a
visible but spiritual kingdom to be set up by David's great
Descendant, the Lord from heaven. While it is as real a
history as II Samuel, its purpose is more distinctly didactic
and philosophical.
151
152 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
The author of Chronicles, with the book of Samuel be-
fore him, copies many passages word for word, or, where
it suits his purpose better, follows the substance with a
slight variation in detail. In many other instances, and at
a great length, he uses material from original prophetic
sources preserved nowhere else in the Bible, citing the
names of the prophetic authors. This great bulk of addi-
tional matter in Chronicles, while old in its origin, is new
in its use, and is essential to the purpose of the author in
preparing the people for the change from monarchy to
hierarchy. On this account also he omits matters quite
important to the purpose of the historian of the book of
Samuel, but irrelevant to his own ; for example, the history
of David's reign over Judah alone ; the war with the house
of Saul ; David's kindness to Mephibosheth, Jonathan's son ;
David's adultery and its punishment; the history of Ab-
salom's rebelHon; the execution of Saul's sons; David's
thanksgiving and last words. None of these is in Chron-
icles. These omissions, when considered with the omissions
of so many thrilling events in David's early life and his
outlaw life, already noticed, show plainly that the Samuel-
book is more the life of the man, while Chronicles is more
the history of the monarchy. So, later. Chronicles will omit
the entire history of the defection under Jeroboam and the
history of the several dynasties of the seceding ten tribes,
and confine itself to the line of David and the unity of the
nation and monarchy in Judah, carefully reciting the return
to Judah of representatives of all the seceding ten tribes,
showing clearly that while the bulk of revolting tribes were
lost in the fall of the Northern kingdom and so go out of
history, yet these tribes were preserved and perpetuated in
the return of their remnants to Judah. Therefore Chron-
icles gives not a thought to the useless modern question,
"What became of the lost ten tribes?"
Neither it nor any subsequent Bible book knows anything
II SAMUEL AND I CHRONICLES 153
of lost tribes. The tribes were not lost any more than they
were lost in the thirty-eight years of the wilderness wan-
derings where a generation perished, but the tribes survived.
They count all the tribes preserved in the remnants that
came back to Judah.
Chronicles pays no attention to their history while apart,
but is very careful to report their return. Precisely for the
same reasons Chronicles barely touches Saul's history, or
the history of his children after him, seeing that the mon-
archy is not perpetuated in Saul's line, but is very careful
to catalogue the warriors coming from Saul's kingdom to
David at Adullam and Ziklag, and the mighty hosts from
all the tribes who came to Hebron to make him king over
all Israel, and gives such details of the plague threatening
the national life, and hence as bearing on the hierarchy
after the downfall of the monarchy.
Chronicles records the elaborate details not elsewhere
found of the arrangements on the occasion of the transla-
tion of the Ark to Jerusalem. It gives two whole chapters
to that and part of another. It gives an entire chapter to
David's preparation of the temple material. It gives several
entire chapters to the elaborate organization of the priests
and the Levites, the army and the civil service, and to the
national assembly at Solomon's accession. A restatement
of all of these things of the past was intensely helpful
toward the establishment and perpetuity of the hierarchy
after the monarchy is gone.
The chronology in II Samuel and I Chronicles is simply
the chronology of the reign of David. The period of time
covered by these two books touching David is forty years.
After profound study, the harmonist, as shown in the text-
book, gives his conception of the time order of the events.
It is a big problem, but I think you may more safely rely,
at least substantially, on the order in the Cambridge Bible,
which I cite, using my own words:
154j the HEBREW MONARCHY
1. The reign of David at Hebron, seven and a half
years, i. e., from b. c. 1055 to 1048.
2. The date of Absalom's birth somewhere between b. c.
1052 and 1050.
3. The reign of Ish-bosheth, and the civil war with the
house of Saul, b. c. 1050-1048.
4. The reign of David at Jerusalem after that period
extends from b. c. 1048 to 1015.
5. The period of the foreign wars comes next, about 10
years, *. e., from b. c. 1045 to 1035.
6. The date of David's sin with Bath-sheba, 1035.
7. The outrage of Amnon the very next year, 1034.
8 Absalom's rebellion, which grows out of it, b. c. 1023.
9. The period of tranquillity and national growth from
b. c. 1023 to 1015.
10. The date of the great plague in 1018.
11. David's death, 1015.
I have changed the Cambridge order somewhat, but my
study on it has been profound, both in original investigation
and in the examination of a great many books. That is
about the time-order of the events contained in these two
books. I could give my argument for it, but that would
take up a great deal of space.
This Old Testament history, as well as all other Old
Testament history, differs from secular history in three
particulars: (i) In the subject matter, in that it is a
history of the special training and discipHne of God's
chosen people; (2) In its giving events as God sees them
and not as man sees them; (3) In the selection of the
material it uses, putting in nothing that does not bear upon
the whole plan of the Old Testament as the preparation for
the New.
A writer of United States history would not think of
leaving out the details of seven or eight great wars, but
this sacred historian leaves out any number of them, since
II SAMUEL AND I CHRONICLES 165
these details have no relation to the great purpose of the
historian. I am quite sure that one should not study this
history as he studies secular history.
It must he studied as the record of the divine preparation
for the incarnation of the Son of God. The whole of the
Old Testament is a preparation for the New. The Old
Testament not only contains prophecies, but the whole his-
tory itself is a prophecy.
The elements of this preparation are: (i) The discipline
and training of the chosen nation that it might be the home
of the Son of God when He came; (2) The development
of the ideas involving the offices of the Messiah — what the
Messiah was to be when He came — Sacrifice, Prophet,
Priest, King, and Judge. The main contribution of H
Samuel and I Chronicles is toward the king idea. In Gen-
esis, Exodus and Leviticus the sacrifices point to the mission
of the Son of God to be a sacrifice for sin, and also to His
being the priest through whom atonement is efifected. I
Samuel contributes the additional idea of the prophet.
These books will put before us the king, and when the
Messiah comes He is to come as King — the King of kings
and Lord of lords, and when we study them we study them
in view of their Messianic forecast. These two books con-
tribute to the Messianic idea also. In David we certainly
find a prophet. He is one of the greatest prophets of the
Old Testament. In David we certainly find a king, exer-
cising priestly functions, though not belonging to the tribe
of Levi. In other words, he is a king and priest. In David
we find the high ideal of the king — prophet, priest and king,
and these books bring that out clearly.
So far in the history of David we have learned simply
his preparation to be king. We have seen that preparation :
(i) In his shepherd Hfe. (2) In his long novitiate of suf-
fering in his outlaw life. The man has been trained physi-
cally, mentally, morally. How often have I said to young
156 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
preachers, *'Only prepared men accomplish great things,
and a preacher can make no more hurtful mistake than to
suppose that it is a waste of time and money to prepare to
be efficient when he does work." Having learned in I Sam-
uel David's preparation to be king, we are to learn in these
two books what he did as king. This is the reign now for
which all the other was a preparation.
The difficulties to be surmounted, if he reigns after God's
heart and not Saul's, are many and grave :
1. He must secure the unity of the nation. In Judges
we see twelve tribes, each one going ofif at a tangent, as
that expression so often repeated in the book says, "In
those days there was no king in Israel, and each man did
what seemed to him to be right.'' Sometimes Judah is be-
fore us, sometimes Naphtali, sometimes Gad, sometimes
Manasseh; it is not a nation, but twelve loosely- jointed
tribes. The first thing that David has to do is to secure
the unity of the nation. It takes him seven and a half
years to do it after he is crowned at Hebron. So that is
his first achievement, and that will be my next discussion —
the seven and a half years that David reigned at Hebron
while the house of Saul held the greater part of the terri-
tory.
2. The second difficulty was to provide a central place
of worship that would not cause jealousies, and such serv-
ices at that place of worship as would help perpetuate the
unity of the nation. Never before had these been fully
attained.
I stop here long enough to make a remark that I may
repeat later, that when the thirteen original colonies seceded
from England and under a loose sort of compact fought
the Revolutionary War, and at the close of the war began
to take steps for a more permanent union, one of the great-
est problems was, ''Where are we to put the capital?" and
it is a very interesting part of American history to read
II SAMUEL AND I CHRONICLES 157
the debates on the location of the capital. If the discussion
had been deferred till our time the capital would never
have been put at Washington, but it was the right place
then. It had been partly in New York, partly in Phila-
delphia, and sometimes *'on wheels," and the biggest kind
of a compromise was effected by its permanent location,
and in order that no State might claim the capital, Virginia
and Maryland were to donate for it a certain district to be
national property.
Here we see David do something much like that. He
would not have his capital at Hebron, as that would look
too much like a Judah-capital, nor Gibeah, where Saul had
reigned. He takes an entirely new place, to be owned by
all the nation — half in Judah and half in Benjamin.
3. The third thing that he has to do is to destroy, or
at least break the backbone of those enemies who have been
fighting the children of Israel ever since their settlement
in the country. You will see David do this. You will see
him crush under his feet, and under the iron hand of his
power, every national enemy. There will be no more a
battle of Gilboa. There will be no more "grindstone" pe-
riods, and for the first time you will see the boundaries
filled out just as God stated them originally in His promises.
They will reach from the River of Egypt to the Euphrates.
4. He must organize what is called a "civil service,"
that is, an administrative body. He counts it important to
provide a financial system adequate to supply national needs
and representation at foreign courts — all things of that
kind. Then, he must organize an army, so as not to depend
upon indiscriminate levies such as we have seen Deborah,
Barak, Gideon, Jephtha and Saul doing, blowing a trumpet
and calling a big militia crowd out that will fight if you let
them fight quick, but they have to go home next week. If
they win a fight they must go home to divide the spoils —
must take something to the wife and children.
168 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
5. He had to organize the kingdom — organize its priests
and Levites with a view to such services at the central place
of worship as would make that central place of unity the
joy of the whole earth; make it the mightiest power in
holding the nation together. He is for the first time to
organize the choir, so famous in the temple service.
6. The sixth point, and no less important than the others,
he must prepare for a transfer of the succession without
trouble. There is where trouble comes to nations, when
one ruler goes out and another comes in; when one king
dies, who shall be his successor. We will see how wisely
David safeguarded the nation at all points so far as he
could do it, and he certainly did provide for the succession
of his son Solomon.
As we have only one other question to consider I will
restate these six points: (i) To secure the unity of the
nation. (2) Central place of worship. (3) Services of a
character to maintain the unity. (4) Destruction of oppos-
ing enemies. (5) Organization. (6) Provision for suc-
cession. You will have learned great things from these two
books when you get these fixed in your mind.
David was a type of Christ:
1. He is called the "Lord's anointed," and "Anointed"
is what the word "Christ" means. "Christ" is English;
Christos is Greek ; "Messiah" is Hebrew ; they all mean the
same thing.
2. He was a type of Christ in uniting in one person the
offices of prophet, priest and king.
3. He was a type of Christ in the trials and sufferings
of the preparation for his reign. Look at that suffering life ;
look at the awful persecutions, and then read in the New
Testament about the Savior's sufferings before He got to
the point where it could be said of Him: "Lift up your
heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors;
II SAMUEL AND I CHRONICLES 159
and let the King of Glory come in." What an awful
preparation Christ had to pass through!
4. He was a type of Christ in the expressions in the
Psalms of the agony of the Messianic sufferings. When
we come to the Psalter we will understand better the typical
character of David.
5. He was a type of Christ in that he was God's rep-
resentative to man, and man's representative to God.
6. And here is a strange one — He was a type of Christ
in being the head or ruler of the heathen, as well as the
beloved monarch of his own people. That thought is very
clearly brought out in our history.
7. He marked the place of Christ's birth by being born
there himself.
QUESTIONS
1. What the Biblical sources of material for a history of the reign
of David?
2. Apart from these two books, what Biblical material have we for
an interpretation of this history?
3. Restate the relations between the two Biblical histories of
David's reign.
4. What of the chronology in II Samuel and I Chronicles?
5. What the probable time-order of the events in these books?
6. How does this Old Testament history, as well as all other Old
Testament history, differ from secular history?
7. How then must this history be studied?
8. What the elements of this preparation?
9. How much do II Samuel and I Chronicles contribute toward
this preparation?
10. How much do these two books contribute to the Messianic
idea?
11. So far in the history of David, what have we learned?
12. What are we to learn in these two books?
13. What the difficulties to be surmounted, if he reigns after God's
heart and not Saul's?
14. How was David a type of Christ?
XVI
DAVID, KING OF JUDAH AT HEBRON, AND THE
WAR WITH THE HOUSE OF SAUL
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 103-108
THE state of the nation just after the battle of Gilboa
was this :
I. The Phihstines held all central Palestine, the
remnants of Saul's family and army, together with the
people of that section, having fled across the Jordan, leav-
ing all their possessions to the enemy.
2. David had gained a sweeping victory in the South
country over the Amalekites and their allies, and had dis-
tributed the spoils among the near-by cities of Judah, but
as Ziklag was destroyed he had no home.
In these conditions David displayed both piety and wis-
dom. He submitted the whole matter of his duty to Jeho-
vah's direction, and accordingly went with all his family
and forces and possessions and settled at Hebron, there to
await further indications of the divine will as they might
be expressed to him by communication through prophet,
priest or providential leadings. He knew on many assur-
ances that he was anointed to be king over all Israel, but
would not complicate a distressful situation by hasty asser-
tion of his claim. He well knew that the charter of the
kingdom required the people's voluntary ratification of the
divine choice, and took no steps to coerce their acquiescence.
Hebron was specially valuable as his home and head-
quarters pending the ratification by the people. It was the
sacred city of Judah, hallowed by many historic memories
160
DAVID, KING OF JUDAH 161
from Abraham's day to his own time. These memories
clustered around him as a shelter and comfort, and as a
reminder of all the precious promises given to the fathers.
Hebron was their home when living and burial place when
dead. The aegis of a long line of illustrious sires was over
him there as the heir of all legacies. It was also the most
notable of the six cities of refuge. Whoever assaulted him,
resting there by divine direction, must fight all the sacred
memories of the past and all the glorious promises of the
future. Jehovah, prophet, priest and Levite were with him
there. Moreover, this old city — one of the oldest in the
world — was defensible against attack, and strategical for
either observation or aggression.
The first expression of popular approval was when all
Judah gathered there and made him king of the royal tribe
concerning which a dying ancestor had prophesied: 'The
sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from
between his feet, till Shiloh come; and unto Him shall be
the obedience of the nations." This act alone by this one
tribe was worth more to David than recognition by all the
other tribes.
The sending of an embassy by David to the men of
Jabesh-gilead, carrying his benediction for their loyalty to
Saul in rescuing and burying with due honor his body and
the bodies of his sons gibbetted in public shame on the walls
of Bethshan, together with his promise to requite what they
had done, bears every stamp of tender sincerity and not one
mark of a mere politician. What he did is in entire accord
with all his past and future acts toward the house of Saul.
He himself, under the greatest provocation, had never struck
back at Saul, twice sparing his life, never conspiring against
him, not only in every way honoring him as God's anointed,
but instantly inflicting the death penalty on every man who
sought to gain his favor by indignity offered to Saul or any
of his family.
16a THE HEBREW MONARCHY
Considering this past and future conduct toward the
house of Saul, the evident tenderness of his elegy over Saul
and Jonathan, we may not construe as the adroit stroke of a
politician the last clause of his message, towit : *'Now, there-
fore, let your hands be strong, and be ye valiant ; for Saul
your lord is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed
me king over them." This is an exceedingly modest intima-
tion that the way is now open for them without any disloy-
alty to the fallen house, to turn their allegiance to God's
choice of Saul's successor. But this generous proposition
of David was defeated, and a long and bloody civil war
was brought on by the ambition of one man, Abner, the
uncle of Saul, who, for mere selfish ends set up Ish-bosheth,
a son of Saul, as king. Here we need to explain the paren-
thetical clause of H Sam. 2:10 in connection with verse I
of chapter 3. This parenthetical clause reads : "Ish-bosheth,
Saul's son, was forty years old when he began to reign over
Israel, and he reigned two years." The other verse reads :
"Now there was long war between the house of Saul and
the house of David."
Attention has been called more than once to the uncer-
tainty in Old Testament text, in numbers, because its nu-
merals are expressed in letters, and that mistakes of tran-
scription easily occur. Now if the two years in this clause
expresses the true text, and not seven years and a half,
then the meaning must be this — that Abner set up Ish-bosheth
just as soon as possible after the battle of Gilboa, but it
took him more than five years to bring all of the tribes
except Judah into acceptance of Ish-bosheth as king, and
two years describes the last two of the seven and a half.
If that be the meaning, then the history does not give the
details of Abner's five and a half years' struggle to bring
about Ish-bosheth's rule over all Israel but Judah, and these
details must have shown, if we had any, that he had to
drive out the Philistines that held the territory, and hence
DAVID, KING OF JUDAH 163
it was only in the latter part of Ish-bosheth's reign, count-
ing from the time he was set up, to the approach to
the west side of the Jordan which is described in this
chapter.
It is evident from all the context that Abner knew that
David was God's choice, for he says so later on and makes
a point on it. It is also evident that he regards Ish-bosheth
as a mere figurehead to prepare the way for his own ulti-
mate assumption of the sovereignty. His taking to himself
of Saul's harem, against which Ish-bosheth protested, did
mean just what Ish-bosheth said it meant — that it was equal
to claiming the kingdom for himself. As soon, therefore,
as he finds out that his motive is thoroughly understood,
then as an evidence that good motives have not actuated
him, he announces to Ish-bosheth that he is going to carry
all the people back to David, God's choice.
We recall from English history that the Duke of Warwick
is called "The King Maker;" that he made Edward IV king,
and when Edward IV insulted him then he took sides with
Henry VI and made him king. Just exactly in this way
Abner acts in this history. His motives, therefore, are
merely the motives of a man who knows that his course is
opposed to God and to the best interests of the people, but
is determined to further his own selfish ambitions.
This war of seven and a half years was thus charac-
terized: *'And David waxed stronger and stronger, but
the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker." But when,
after five and a half years of confirming the authority of
Ish-bosheth, Abner felt himself strong enough, he left the
east side of the Jordan and carried his army over near
Gibeah, Saul's old home, with the evident purpose of mak-
ing Ish-bosheth king over the whole nation. David did not
make the aggression, but he resisted aggression, so he sends
out his army under Joab and they stand opposed to each
other near a pool of water at Gibeah. A hostile army being
164 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
brought that near Hebron, David has to meet it. The war
then was evidently forced by the house of Saul.
The events, in order, leading up to David's being made
king over all Israel are as follows : The first event is Joab's
great victory over Abner at Gibeah. Abner proposed that
a dozen champions from each side fight a duel and let that
fight settle the whole question. When these twenty- four
men met they met with such fury that at the first stroke
every man on either side killed his opponent and was killed
by his opponent, so that the duel was not decisive, but it
brought on the fight. Joab then gains an easy victory. One
of Joab's brothers, Asahel, swift of foot, follows Abner,
pursues him, and your history tells you that Abner killed
Asahel by thrusting him through with the butt end of his
spear, striking backward. I suppose the end of the spear
was sharp, as he didn't hit him with the point, but with the
sharpened butt of it. That stopped the battle, but no injury
to Joab ever stopped him until he wreaked his vengeance.
So here it ended by his killing Abner for the death of
Asahel, as we will see a little later.
The next event, in order, is the quarrel between Abner
and Ish-bosheth on account of Ish-bosheth's protest against
the infamous deed of Abner, and the next is Abner's desert-
ing to David, persuading the tribes that Ish-bosheth is just
a figurehead and his cause getting weaker all the time, and
David is getting stronger, and the right thing to do was for
all to come in and recognize the king that God had chosen.
Abner came to David making that proposition. David told
him that the first thing to be done was that he should restore
Michal, his wife, who had been given to another man. I
do not know that any particular love prompted David.
I don't see why, with the number of wives he already had,
he had any love to pour out on her, but if he had any
political stroke in view it was that if the daughter of Saul
was brought back to him as his wife, then it would make it
DAVID, KING OF JUDAH 165
easier for the followers of Saul to come to this united
family, representing both sides, as it was proposed by Cath-
erine de Medici to unite the Huguenots and the Romanists
by marriage between Henry of Navarre on the Huguenot
side to Margaret, the sister of King Charles of France, on
the other side.
The next event is the murder of Abner by Joab — a cold-
blooded murder. The plan of it was agreed on between
himself and his brother Abishai that they would send for
Abner, who had left after his interview with David, and
bring him back in David's name, and then Joab proposed
to step aside and inquire about his health, and while he is
inquiring about his health he stabbed him under the fifth
rib. David laments the death of Abner, but does not punish
Joab. On the contrary, he says, "These sons of Zeruiah
are too hard for me." His sister, Zeruiah, had three sons —
Joab, Abishai and Asahel. He will have a good deal more
trouble with that family yet. They will be harder than they
were in this case.
The next step was, seeing that Ish-bosheth now has no
standing; Abner dead, no general, the people all agreeing
to go back to David, two ruffians who wanted to make cap-
ital with David assassinated Ish-bosheth and carried the
news of their assassination to David, expecting to be re-
warded. He rewarded them very promptly — by executing
them. These are the events in order that led up to the
union of the nation under David.
The children born to David in Hebron are mentioned in
the record : Ammon, or Amnon, the son of Abinoam. We
will find out about him later. It would have been better
if he had never been born. The next one is Chileab, or
Daniel, as he is called in Chronicles, a son of Abigail. We
do not know whether he turned out well or ill, as he drops
out of the history. The next one is Absalom, the son of
Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, the king of Geshur. We
166 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
will certainly hear of him later. It would have been better
if he had never been born. The others make no mark in
the history at all. O this polygamy ! This polygamy ! The
jealousies of polygamy ! It is an awful thing.
Now let us look at the character of Abner, Ish-bosheth
and Joab. Abner was a man of considerable talent and
influence, but unscrupulously ambitious. Ish-bosheth had
just about as much backbone as a jelly-fish. Joab was a
great general — a very stern, selfish warrior. Himself as
unscrupulous as Abner, though not as disloyal. But we are
a long way from being done with Joab. A great text for
a sermon in this section is : "These sons of Zeruiah are too
hard for me ;" that is, a man should beware, in accompHsh-
ing his purposes, of the character of the instruments that
he associates with him. If he calls in Turks, Tartars, and
Huns to be his allies, then after a while he will have to
settle with his allies, and he may find that his allies are too
strong for him. A proverb advises us to keep no company
with a violent man. We are always in danger if a violent,
unscrupulous man is our associate. Like poor dog Tray,
we may get a beating for being in their company.
We have Joab's reply to Abner in II Sam. 2\2'j\ "Then
Abner called to Joab and said. Shall the sword devour for-
ever? Knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the
latter end? How long shall it be then, ere thou bid the
people return from following their brethren?" Joab was
pursuing them sorely. "And Joab said. As God liveth, if
thou hadst not spoken, surely then in the morning the people
had gone away, nor followed every one his brother." What
is the sense of that last verse? Abner speaks and wants to
know why they are pursuing him, and Joab says, "If thou
hadst not spoken then every man would not be pursuing his
brother." I will leave that to the reader and the commen-
taries as to just what Joab meant.
DAVID, KING OF JUDAH 167
QUESTIONS
1. What the state of the nation just after the battle of Gilboa?
2. In these conditions how did David display both piety and
wisdom?
3. What the value of Hebron as his home and headquarters pending
the ratification by the people?
4. What was the first expression of popular approval?
5. Was David's embassy to the men of Jabesh-gilead the sincere
act of a statesman, or an adroit stroke of a politician?
6. What defeated this generous proposition of David and brought
on a long and bloody civil war?
7. Explain the parenthetical clause of II Sam. 2 : 10 in connection
with verse i of chapter 3,
8. Judging from his conduct throughout, what motives must have
inspired Abner?
9. What characterizes this war of seven and one-half years?
10. Show how aggression came from Abner.
11. State, in order, the events leading up to David's being made
king over all Israel.
12. What children were born to David in Hebron, and what may
we say about them?
13. What the character of Abner, Ish-bosheth and Joab?
14. What great text for a sermon in this section?
15. What the sense of Joab's reply to Abner., II Sam. 2 : 27?
XVII
DAVID MADE KING OVER ALL ISRAEL AND THE
CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM FOR A CAPITAL
Scriptures: References in the Harmony, pp. io8, 109
THIS section is short, but intensely important. Please
observe the method of the harmonist in arranging
the text of the reign of David into periods of War,
Rest and Internal Dissensions. This arrangement is admir-
able for topical discussion, but does not follow a strict chro-
nological order of events. It is a characteristic of the his-
tories themselves to intersperse here and there in the details
of the story a comprehensive summary extending far be-
yond the specific details which precede or follow — for
example, II Sam. 5:4-14.
The first notable event of this section is that David is
made king over all Israel, at Hebron. For this consumma-
tion David himself deserves unstinted praise. There was
nothing in his own conduct while Saul lived or after his
death to make it difficult for any surviving partisan of Saul's
house to come over to David. Under persecution he had
been loyal ; in opportunities for vengeance he had been mer-
ciful; in the hour of triumph his spirit was not arrogant
but conciliatory ; in the long postponement of the divine
purpose he was not impatient, never seeking, as some of his
ancestors had done, to hasten by his own meddling the
ripening of Jehovah's prophecies and promises. And when
some of his too zealous or more vengeful partisans took
short cuts toward the destined end on lines of their own
passions, he made it evident by signal rebuke that he was
168
DAVID, KING OF ALL ISRAEL 169
not personally responsible for their wrong-doing. He never
rewarded a traitor for assassinating a member of the house
of Saul except with instant execution and with expressions
of the most pronounced abhorrence of their crimes. In
impassioned and evidently sincere elegy he bore high tribute
to the merits of the dead, mingled with a matchless charity
that was silent as to their demerits, while sending benedic-
tions to those who befriended them. So the remnants of
Saul's following and family had no grievances against David
to forget or to forgive.
When we place over against this conduct of David the
conduct of Philip II of Spain, the contrast is awful. Philip
openly and habitually offered large rewards to assassins who
by any means would murder his enemies, and sang, "Te
Deum Laudamus" when they succeeded. His nature was
as cold as a frog, poisonous as a snake, treacherous as a
coyote, cruel as a panther. In wholesale murder, arson
and confiscation he was the prince of criminals, eclipsing
the infamy of both Nero and Herod, and in stark unctuous
hypocrisy none in the annals of time might dare to claim
equality with him, much less pre-eminence over him. He
was the Monster of the centuries. It certainly must have
caused Satan himself to put on a sardonic grin when hear-
ing Philip called ''His most Christian majesty." Spain, at
Philip's accession, was the dominant world-power; he left
it with none so poor to do it reverence. Judea, at David's
accession, was at the bottom place among the nations; he
left it on top, the glory of the world. The contrast spells
just this: David was a saint, Philip was a devil.
It is to be regretted that so little reason prompted those
tribes, now eager for union, to promote the defection which
this union healed. Under the dominant influence of a selfish
leader they set up Ish-bosheth against the known will of
Jehovah. They warred in open aggression against the choice
of Jehovah. They made no decisive effort toward pacifi-
170 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
cation while they had a leg to stand on, and when they did
come back into the union their expressed reasons for return,
while evidently now sincere, were all equally strong against
their making the original breach. Look at these reasons
and see. They assign three reasons for their return: (i)
*'Behold we are thy bone and thy flesh." (2) 'In times
past, when Saul was king over us, it was thou that leddest
out and broughtest in Israel." (3) "J^^ovah said to thee,
Thou shalt be shepherd of my people, and thou shalt be
prince over Israel." In view of these cogent reasons, one
may well inquire, Why, then, a long and bloody war of
division ?
The steps of the national reunion were these:
1. An armed host of all the tribes came simultaneously
to David at Hebron to make him king.
2. Their elders, as representatives, enter into solemn
covenant with him before Jehovah.
3. They anoint him king over all Israel.
4. A three-days* festival of great joy celebrates the
event. All these steps were profoundly significant, and
are worthy of comment. Concerning the first step — ^the
gathering of the armed host to Hebron — some remarks are
pertinent :
1. The total number of armed men who came together
simultaneously from all of the tribes was enormous. Apart
from the captains, and with the contingent of Issachar not
stated, the total is 339,000, but assuming Issachar's con-
tingent to be somewhat between Zebulun's and Napthali's,
say 40,000, and adding the captains which are enumerated,
the total would be 380,221.
2. The very large contingent from the house of Aaron
of both branches shows how thoroughly the priesthood
which Saul had hated stood by David.
3. The contingents from the least prominent tribes,
DAVID, KING OF ALL ISRAEL 171
Manasseh, Zebulun, Napthali, Asher, Reuben and Gad, were
all out of proportion greater than the near-by tribes.
4. The small contingent from Benjamin is explained by
the fact that even yet the greater part were attached to the
house of Saul, but the reason of Judah's small number is
not given. The trans-Jordanic two-and-a-half tribes send
a third of the total.
5. The remark concerning the contingent of the western
half — Manasseh — is that they came instructed to make
David king.
6. The remark concerning the two hundred leaders of
Issachar has been the theme of many a sermon: "Men
that had understanding of the times to know what Israel
ought to do." Oh, that such men were multiplied in our
day!
7. Concerning Zebulun's 50,000, it is said they were "not
of double heart." May such men flourish in this unstable,
twisting and turning generation !
8. Indeed, concerning all of them, it is said, "They came
with perfect heart to make David king."
It was quite in accord with the patriarchal and repre-
sentative constitution of the nation that the princes and
elders of the tribes should act for them in entering into
covenant with David. It must have been an imposing sight,
to see nearly half a million armed men in fifteen distinct
corps waiting at Hebron, while their statesmen, prophets,
priests and generals deliberated on the terms of the
covenant.
The Covenant. — The covenant itself doubtless was based
on the charter of the kingdom as defined by Moses and
Samuel, which safeguarded the rights of all parties con-
cerned, towit: Jehovah, the king, the national assembly,
the religion, and the people at large. It was an intensely
religious act, seeing it was "before Jehovah." Following
this covenant came —
172 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
The Anointing. — David had already been twice anointed,
first at Bethlehem privately by Samuel as an expression of
Jehovah's choice, and as a symbol of the Spirit-power that
rested on him, A second time here at Hebron his anointing
was expressive of Judah's choice, but now this third more
public and imposing anointing on such a grand occasion,
following such a covenant, takes on a wider and most
charming significance so appropriately expressed by David
himself in Psalm 133 that it seems to have been occasioned
by this event:
"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brethren to dwell together in unity !
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
That ran down upon the beard,
Even Aaron's beard ;
That came down upon the skirt of his garments ;
Like the dew of Hermon,
That cometh down upon the mountains of Zion:
For there Jehovah commanded the blessing,
Even life for evermore."
It is certain that never before nor since was there such
a thorough and joyous unity of the nation, and such broth-
erly love among the Jews, nor ever will be until erring and
dispersed Israel, long exiled from Jehovah's favor, shall
be gathered out of all nations and turn in one momentous
day with such penitence as the world has never known to
David's greater Son, according to the prophecies of Zecha-
riah, Ezekiel, Isaiah and Paul. Then, indeed, in one sense,
will the ''Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" be
"anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows" be-
cause He sees "The travail of His soul" concerning Israel
and is satisfied. We might well look to a greater fulfilment
when the kingdoms of this world have become the. kingdom
of our Lord and His Christ, at which time more appropri-
ately than ever before in the history may a redeemed and
united world unite in singing the greatest human coronation
hymn,
DAVID, KING OF ALL ISRAEL 173
"Bring forth the royal diadem
And crown Him Lord of All !"
The Festival. — Perhaps the most remarkable feature of
the whole occasion is the provision made for entertaining
a half million people for three days. Our text says, ''And
they were there with David three days, eating and drinking:
for their brethren had made preparation for them. More-
over, they that were nigh unto them, even as far as Issachar
and Zebulun and NaphtaH, brought bread on asses, and on
camels, and on mules, and on oxen, victual of meal, cakes
of figs, and clusters of raisins, and wine, and oil, and oxen,
and sheep in abundance : for there was joy in Israel." This
great festival of joy not only reminds us of the sacrificial
feast following the covenant at Sinai (Ex. 24:1-11), but
prefigures the one announced in later days by Isaiah thus :
"And in this mountain will Jehovah of hosts make unto all
people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of
fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
And He will destroy in this mountain the face of the cover-
ing that covereth all peoples, and the veil that is spread over
all nations. He hath swallowed up death forever; and the
Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces ; and
the reproach of His people will He take away from off all
the earth," Isa. 25 : 6-8, or that greater festival adverted to
by our Lord when He said concerning the salvation of the
multitudinous thousands of the Gentiles, ''Many shall come
from the East and the West, and the North and the South,
and shall recline at the table with Abraham, and Isaac and
Jacob in the kingdom of heaven."
The auspices for the nation were all propitious. They
have a king over them, not like other nations, but a king
after God's own heart. The rights, powers and privileges
of all parties interested were all clearly defined and solemn-
ized by imposing ceremonies of religion. Here was God's
choice of the man, the ratification by the national assembly,
174 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
bonds of charter and covenant, the presence and concurrence
of prophet and priests, to which may be added, in the words
of our text, "And all the rest also of Israel were all of one
heart to make David king." The plan of the kingdom, and
its start are perfect. If failure shall come in later days,
as come it will, it will be for no fault in the plan.
The Taking of Jerusalem. — David's first act of royalty
tends to promote and perpetuate the union, namely, the
securing of a central capital, strong for defence or aggres-
sion, and not likely to promote tribal jealousy. It would
not do to make Hebron, distinctly a city of Judah, the na-
tional capital, nor yet Gibeah of Benjamin, where Saul had
reigned. It must be a new place which commanded the
Arabah, the Negeb, the Mediterranean coast, and all the
highways from North to South and East to West. To meet
these conditions there was but one place, the city whose
citadel was held by the Jebusites ; part of it lay in Judah's
allotted territory and part in Benjamin's, but neither had
driven the Jebusites from the citadel which overawed the
city.
Memories of the Place. — It had been the city of Melchize-
dek, king of peace and righteousness, priest of the Most
High God, to whom Abraham had paid tithes, and type of
our Lord, David's greater son. There, also, on Mount
Moriah, in the greatest typical act of the ages, Abraham
came to offer up his well-beloved son, Isaac, the child of
promise, and there, in a type of our Lord's resurrection, was
Isaac saved. The authority of Moses still cried, ''Drive
out these Jebusites," so David called the united nation to
arms.
The selection of a capital for a nation made up of varied
and jealous constituencies calls for the highest wisdom and
the broadest spirit of compromise. Every student of our
national history will recall what a perplexing thing it was
for our fathers to agree on the site of a national capital.
DAVID, KING OF ALL ISRAEL 175
Philadelphia, the continental capital, would not do, nor
would Annapolis, where Washington returned his sword at
the close of the war, nor New York, with its Wall Street,
where Washington was inaugurated. A district, ceded by
Virginia and Maryland as an inalienable national possession,
was the compromise, just as here Jerusalem, lying partly in
Judah and partly in Benjamin, becomes the capital, and yet
to be conquered by the united force of the nation, giving
all a special interest in it. "For similar reasons," says a fine
commentator, "promotive of national union, we have seen
Victor Emmanuel made king of a united Italy, change his
capital, first from Turin in Lombardy to Florence in Tus-
cany, and then to Rome, the ancient imperial city." So now,
David, the wisest and most prudent of monarchs, avails
himself of the enthusiasm of a united nation and the pres-
ence of a great army to lead them to storm the citadel of
the Jebusites.
Two incidents of that great victory are worthy of note:
(i) the scornful greeting of the Jebusites, confident in the
impregnabiHty of their fortress: "Even with the blind and
the lame to hold the walls he cannot come in hither." (2)
David's offer to reward the one who would scale the wall,
the position of commander-in-chief of his army, won by
his nephew Joab. Following the conquest comes the
Rapid Fortification, — He lengthened, strengthened and
connected the walls of the city. Indeed, there was reason
for haste, as storms of war were gathering from every point
of the horizon.
Two results follow the union of the nation under such a
king, and the rapid conquest and fortification of such a
capital: (i) David waxed stronger and stronger ; (2) neigh-
boring nations, jealous and alarmed, prepare to pour on him
a tide of war.
And now, before we dip into the bloody pages of these
wars, two remarks are timely: (i) Throughout David's
176 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
reign, every act of his administration is promotive of the
national unity centered at Jerusalem; (2) Jerusalem from
this date forward to the end of time and throughout eternity
v^ill be the world's chief city, either in type or antitype. Its
vicissitudes in subsequent history are the most remarkable
in the annals of time. On account of David's work and
preparation it became in Solomon's day the joy of the whole
earth. The Psalms proclaim its glory in worship, and after
its fall they voice the exile's lament: *Tf I forget thee,
O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its cunning and
my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.'* Babylon cap-
tured it ; Persia restored it ; Greece, through Alexander the
Great, honored it; Antiochus Epiphanes defiled it; the As-
moneans took it ; the Messiah heard its hosannahs one day
and its "Crucify Him" another day; Rome destroyed it;
the Saracens captured it; the Crusader re-captured it; the
Turk holds it and Germany covets it. Its desolation has
lasted nearly two thousand years and will last until the ful-
ness of the Gentiles comes in. Its greatest glory is that its
temple symbolized the churches of the living God, and the
city itself symbolized the Heavenly Jerusalem, which is the
mother of all the saints. [The author's reference to Ger-
many's desire to acquire Jerusalem was written long before
the Great War which has witnessed the Germanic-Turkish
alliance. The words seem prophetic. — Editor.]
QUESTIONS
1. What the method of the harmonist in arranging the text
of David's reign, extending from page 108 to 163. inclusive?
2. 'What a characteristic of the histories themselves?
3. What the first notable event of this section?
4. What credit was due David himself in this great consum-
mation?
5. Contrast David's course in this matter with the character
and polity of Philip IT of Spain.
6. What reasons assigned by the tribes for their return to David,
and the bearing of their reasons on their defection?
7. What the several steps of this national reunion?
DAVID, KING OF ALL ISRAEL 177
8. What the notable particulars of the armed hosts who assem-
bled?
9. What the representative act of the elders?
10. What of the covenant itself?
11. What of the anointing?
12. What of the three days* festival?
13. What the first kingly act of David to strengthen and per-
petuate this national union?
14. What place selected for the capital, its advantages, and
memories ?
15. What the incidents of its capture?
16. What steps taken to fortify it?
17. What two results naturally followed this union of the
nation under such a king in such a capital ?
18. What the position of Jerusalem henceforward among the
cities of the world?
19. Relate some of its vicissitudes in subsequent history.
XVIII
THE WARS OF DAVID
Scriptures: References in the Harmony, pp. 110-114, 1 18-125
OUR last chapter intimated that the union of the nation
under such a king as David, in such a capital, would
naturally excite the jealousy and alarm of all neigh-
boring heathen nations. This section commences thus:
"And when the Philistines heard that they had anointed
David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek
David."
Your attention has already been called to the necessity of
breaking the power of the hostile heathen nations lying all
around Judea, if ever the Jewish nation is to fulfil its mis-
sion to all other nations. The geographical position of
Judea, which is the best in the world for leavening the
nations with the ideas of the kingdom of God, if it main-
tained its national purity and adherence to Jehovah, also
made it the most desirable possession for other peoples
having far different ideals. As the salvation of the world,
including these very hostile nations, depended on the per-
petuity and purity of Israel, these nations, through whom
came idolatry and national corruption, must be broken,
hence the seeming cruelty and partiality of Jehovah's order
through Moses to destroy the Canaanites, root and branch,
and to avoid the corruptions of the other nations, were
meant as mercy and kindness to the world.
The nations against which David successfully warred, so
far as our text records them, were the Philistines, the
Ammonites, the Syrians of Zobah, the Syrians of Damas-
178
THE WARS OF DAVID 179
cus, the Moabites, and the Edomites. He had previously
smitten the Amalekites of the Negeb. On these wars in
general the following observations are noteworthy:
1. He was never the aggressor.
2. He never lost a battle.
3. His conquest filled out the kingdom to the boundaries
originally promised to Abraham.
4. The spoils of all these wars, staggering credulity in
their variety and value, were consecrated to Jehovah, mak-
ing the richest treasury known to history.
5. By alliance without war he secured the friendship of
Hiram, king of Tyre, most valuable to him and to his son
Solomon. As Phoenicia, through the world-famous fleets of
Tyre and Sidon, commanded the Mediterranean with all its
marine commerce, and as David ruled the land through
whose thoroughfares must pass the caravans carrying this
traffic to Africa, Arabia, India, Syria and Mesopotamia, it
was of infinite value to both to be in friendly alliance. To
these merchant-princes it was of incalculable advantage that
all the land transportation of their traffic should lie within
the boundaries of one strong and friendly nation rather than
to have to run the gauntlet between a hundred irresponsible
and predatory tribes, while to David, apart from the value
of this peaceful commerce, the whole western border of
Judea along the Mediterranean coast was safe from inva-
sion by sea so long as friendship was maintained with
Hiram, king of the sea.
6. By the voluntary submission of Hamath after his
conquest of Damascus, he controlled the famous historic
^'Entrance into Hamath," the one narrow pathway of traf-
fic with the nations around the Caspian Sea, thus enabHng
David to reach those innumerable northern hordes so graph-
ically described in later days by Ezekiel, the exile-prophet.
7. By the conquest of Damascus he controlled the only
caravan-route to the Euphrates and Mesopotamia, since the
180 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
desert lying east of the trans-Jordanic tribes was practically
impassable for trade and army movement from a lack of
water. We have seen Abraham, migrating from Ur of the
Chaldees, low down on the Euphrates, compelled to ascend
that river for hundreds of miles in order to find an acces-
sible way to the Holy Land through Damascus. In his day,
also Chedorlaomer's invasion had to follow the same way,
as we will see later invasions do in Nebuchadnezzar's time,
which at last conquered David's Jerusalem.
8. By the conquest of Ammon, Moab and Edom, all the
Arabah passed into his hands, checkmating invasion by
Arabian hordes, as well as barring one line of invasion from
Egypt. By the conquest of the Philistines and Amalekites
the other two ways of Egyptian invasion were barred. You
should take a map, such as you will find in Hurlbut's Atlas,
and show how David's wars and peaceful aUiances safe-
guarded every border, north, east, south and west.
Besides these general observations, we may note a special
feature characterizing these, and indeed all other wars,
prior to the leveling invention of gunpowder and other high
explosives, namely, much was accomplished by individual
champions of great physical prowess and renown. David
himself was as famous in this respect as Richard, the Lion-
hearted, until in a desperate encounter, related in this sec-
tion, his life was so endangered that a public demand justly
required him to leave individual fighting to less necessary
men and confine himself to the true duty of a general —
the direction of the movements of the army.
Your text recites the special exploits of Jashobeam,
Eleazer, Shammah, Abishai, Benaiah, or Benajah, after
whom my father, myself, and my oldest son were named.
With them may be classed the ten Gadites whose faces were
like the faces of lions and who were as swift as the moun-
tain deer, the least equal to a hundred and the greatest
equal to a thousand. These crossed the Jordan at its mighty
THE WARS OF DAVID 181
flood and smote the Philistines in all its valley, east and
west.
Quite to the front also, as giant-killers, were Sibbecai,
Elhanan and Jonathan's nephew. Of others, all mighty
heroes, we have only a catalogue of names as famous in
their day as Hercules, Theseus, and Achilles, Ajax, Ulysses,
Horatius, and King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table,
but, as philosophizes Sir Walter Scott in "Ivanhoe" con-
cerning the doughty champions at the tourney of Ashby de
la Zouch : 'To borrow lines from a contemporary poet,
'The knights are dust,
And their good swords rust,
Their souls are with the saints, we trust,'
while their escutcheons have long mouldered from the walls
of their castles; their castles themselves are but green
mounds and shattered ruins ; the place that once knew them
knows them no more. Nay, many a race since theirs has
died out and been forgotten in the very land which they
occupied with all the authority of feudal proprietors and
lords. What then would it avail to the reader to know
their names, or the evanescent symbols of their martial
rank?"
One exploit of three of these champions deserves to Hve
forever in literature. It thrills the heart by the naturalness
of its appeal to the memory of every man concerning the
precious things of his childhood's home. David was in his
stronghold, the Cave of Adullam, weary and thirsty. Beth-
lehem and his childhood rise before him : ''O that one would
give me water to drink of the Well of Bethlehem that is
by the gate!" His exclamation thrills like Woodworth's
famous poem,
"How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood,
As fond recollection presents them to view!
The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wildwood,
And ev'ry loved spot which my infancy knew."
18^ THE HEBREW MONARCHY
David's longing for water from that particular well, and
Woodworth's *'01d Oaken Bucket" harmonize with my own
experience whenever I am delirious with fever. I always
see a certain spring on my father's plantation issuing from
the moss-covered, fern-bordered rocks, and filling a sunken
barrel. Hard by, hanging on a bush, is the gourd which,
when dipped into the cold, clear spring, is more precious
to thirsty lips than the silver tankards or gold drinking
cups of kings ; only in my fever-thirst I never am able to
get that gourd to my lips.
Three of David's mighty men heard the expression of
his longing for that water out of the Well of Bethlehem,
and slipping quietly away, not caring that a Philistine gar-
rison held Bethlehem, the three men alone break through
the defended gate and under fire draw water from the well
and bring a vessel of it over a long, hot way to thirsty David.
It touched his heart when he saw their wounds. He could
not drink water purchased with their blood, but poured it
out as a libation to such great and devoted friendship.
Some other incidents of the Philistine war are worthy of
comment :
1. So great was the defeat of the Philistines in their
first battle, where David, under divine direction, attacked
the center of their army, the scene is named "Baal-Perazim,"
i.e., 'The place of breaking forth." Splitting their column
wide open at its heart, he dispersed them in every direction.
They even left their gods behind them to be burned by
David's men. We need not be startled at the burning of
such gods, for history tells of one nation that ate their god,
made out of dough, in times of famine. This breaking of a
battle-center was a favorite method with Napoleon later,
and vainly attempted by Lee at Gettysburg.
2. In the second great battle, again following divine
direction, he avoided the center where they expected his
attack as before and were there prepared for him this time,
THE WARS OF DAVID 183
and "fetched" a compass to their rear, sheltered from their
view by a thick growth of balsam trees, and on hearing "a
sound of a going" in these trees, struck them unawares and
overthrew them completely.
So Stonewall Jackson, his movements sheltered from
observation by the trees of the wilderness, marched and
struck in his last and greatest victory at Chancellorsville.
And so did that master of war, Frederick the Great, screened
by intervening hills, turn the Austrian columns and win his
greatest victory at Leuthen. Major Penn, the great Texas
lay-evangelist, preached his greatest sermon from "This
fetching a compass," and "When thou hearest the sound
of a going in the mulberry trees, bestir thyself." His appli-
cation was: (a) Let great preachers attack the center,
as David did at Baal-Perazim. (b) But as I am only a lay-
man I must fetch a compass and strike them in the rear
where they are not expecting attack, (c) As the signal of
assault was the sound of a going in the mulberry trees,
which we interpret to mean the power of the Holy Spirit
going before, we must tarry for that power, for without
it we are bound to fail, (d) But that power being evident,
let every member of the church bestir himself." On this
last point his zealous exhortation puts every man, woman
and child to working.
3. The third incident of this war was its culmination.
He pressed his victory until "he took the bridle of the
mother city out of the hand of the Philistines ;" that is, he
captured Gath and the four other cities, or daughters, that
had gone from it. To take the bridle of a horse from the
hand of a rider is to make that horse serve the new master,
so Gath and her daughters paid tribute to David and served
him — quite a new experience for the Philistines.
4. The result of these great achievements is thus ex-
pressed : "And the fame of David went out into all lands ;
and the Lord brought the fear of him on all nations."
184 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
The occasion of his next war, the one with Ammon, was
remarkable. Nahash, the king of Ammon, held very friendly-
relations with David. The fact is that he may have been the
father of Amasa, a son of David's sister, Abigail. Anyway,
the relations between them had been very pleasant, so when
Nahash died, David, out of the kindness of his heart, always
remembering courtesies shown him, sent a friendly embassy
to Hanun, the son of Nahash, but the princes of Ammon
said to the young king, "Do you suppose that love for your
father prompted David to send these men? He sent them
to spy out the land so that he can make war successfully
against us." This evil suggestion led the young king to do
a very foolish thing, and one that violated all international
policy. He arrested these ambassadors and subjected them
to the greatest indignity. Their venerable beards were cut
off. I don't know whether that means cut off half-way or
just shaved off one side of the face. Then he cut off their
long robes of dignity so they would be bob-tailed jackets
striking about the hips, and sent them home. No mortifica-
tion could exceed theirs. Somebody told David about it
and he sent this word to them: *'Tarry at Jericho until
your beards grow out."
A deacon of the First Church at Waco, when I was pas-
tor, whenever a young member of the church would propose
some innovation on the customs of the church, would draw
up his tall figure — ^he was quite tall — and would reach out
his long arm and point at the young man and say, "My
young brother, you had better tarry at Jericho until your
beard grows out." It was very crushing on the young
brother, and I used to exhort the deacon about his curt way
of cutting off members who, whether young or old, had
a right equal to his own to speak in conference.
Having practiced that unpardonable indignity upon the
friendly ambassadors, the Ammonites know they must fight,
since they have made themselves odious to David, so they
THE WARS OF DAVID 185
raise an enormous sum of money, a thousand talents of
silver, and hire 33,000 men from the Syrians — the different
branches of the Syrians. Some of them were horsemen
from across the Euphrates, some from Tob, some from
Maacah, and the rest of them from Zobah. David sends
Joab at the head of his mighty army of veterans to fight
them. The Ammonites remain in their fortified city of
Rabbah, and as Joab's army approaches, 33,000 Syrians
come up behind them, and Joab sees that there is a battle
to be fought in the front and in the rear, so he divides his
army and takes his picked men to attack the Syrians, and
commands Abishai, his brother, to go after the Ammonites
as they pour out of their city to attack in front. Joab says
to his brother, "If the Syrians are too strong for me, you
help me, and if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then
I will come and help you," and so they fight both ways and
whip in both directions with tremendous success. Joab
destroys the Syrians, and Abishai drives the Ammonites
back under the walls of their city.
That victory leads to another war. When the Syrians
heard of the overthrow of the contingent sent to succor
Ammon, they sent across the Euphrates again for rein-
forcements and mobilized a large home army to fight David.
David met them in battle and blotted them off the map, and
having disposed of the Syrians, at the return of the season
for making war, he sent Joab with a mighty army to besiege
the city of Rabbah, the capital of the Ammonites. Joab
besieges them and when he sees them about to surrender
he sends for David to come and accept the surrender and
David puts the crown of the king of Ammon on his own
head. Then having destroyed the Ammonites, he marches
against their southern ally, Moab, and conquers them. Fol-
lowing up this victory he leads his army against Edom, and
conquers all that country. This war lasts six months. He
gains a great victory over the Edomites and through
186 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
Abishai, his leader, eighteen thousand of the Edomites were
slain. The heir of the king escapes with great difficulty
to Egypt, and is sheltered there. Joab remained six months
to bury the dead and gather up the spoils. So ends this
period of conquest.
The text tells you, in conclusion, who were the administra-
tion officers during this period. You will find it on page 122
of the Harmony. Joab was over the host, Jehoshaphat was
recorder, Zadok and Ahimelech were priests, Seraiah was
scribe, Benaiah, or Benajah, was over the Cherethites and
Pelethites, and David's sons were chiefs about the king.
That great round of successes is followed by the mag-
nificent song of thanksgiving, which needs to be specially
analyzed and which is transferred to the Psalter as Psalm 18.
That you may have a connected account of these wars,
the consideration of three periods is deferred to the next
chapter :
1. The great sin of David, with its far-reaching conse-
quences, n Sam. 11:2 — 12:24.
2. His treatment of the Ammonites after the fall of
Rabbah, H Sam. 12:31 and I Chron. 20: 3.
3. His treatment of the Moabites, H Sam. S:2.
QUESTIONS
1. What the necessity of breaking the power of the hostile
nations within and around Judea?
2. Show why the geographical position of Judea was favorable
to its mission of leavening all nations with the ideas of the king-
dom of God, and why Judea was a desirable possession to those
nations.
3. What event brought a tide of war on David?
4. According to the record, with what nations did he wage
successful war?
5. What four general observations on these wars?
6. What special feature characterized them and^ all other an-
cient wars, and what modern inventions have now divested war of
this feature?
7. Cite the names of some of David's champions and their
exploits.
THE WARS OF DAVID 187
8. How does Sir Walter Scott, in "Ivanhoe," philosophize on
the speedy oblivion coming to great champions?
9. Recite one exploit that deserves to live in literature, and
why?
10. Cite the notable characteristics of the battle of Baal-Per-
azim.
11. Name the more decisive battles which followed, and give
illustrations from history of the different methods of attack in
those two battles.
12. Give Major Penn's text and sermon outline on some words
concerning this battle.
13. Explain : "He took the . bridle of the mother city out of
the hand of the Philistines."
14. What the result of these great achievements?
15. Recite the occasion of the war with Ammon and its results,
and describe the first battle.
16. Give brief statement of wars with Syria, Moab and Edom.
17. With a map before you, show just how by these wars and
alliances David safeguarded all his borders.
18. How did he commemorate his victories?
19. How did he celebrate them?
20. Into what other book was his thanksgiving song trans-
ferred, and how numbered there?
XIX
THREE DARK EVENTS OF DAVID'S CAREER
Scriptures : I Sam. 1 1 : i — 12 : 25 ; 12 : 31 and I Chron. 20 : 3 ;
II Sam. 8:2; Harmony, pp. 115-117
IN the preceding discussion, three dark events of David's
career were omitted, first, because it was thought best
to give in unbroken connection a history of his success-
ful wars, carrying his kingdom to its promised boundaries
and fining the world with his fame ; secondly, because the
three events called for special and extended treatment.
Truly the wars closed in a blaze of glory, for "The Lord
gave victory to David whithersoever he went;" *'his king-
dom was exalted on high for his people Israel's sake ;" "So
David gat him a great name," according to the gracious
promise of Jehovah, "I will make unto thee a great name,
like unto the name of the great ones that are in the earth,"
Indeed, at the close of these wars his was the most illus-
trious name on earth and his kingdom the greatest.
It is a bitter thing to give to this luminous glory a back-
ground of horrible darkness. Yet fidelity to truth and the
ages-long value of the lesson, require us to dip the brush
that paints the background in most sombre colors. It is
characteristic of portrait painters to use a flattering brush,
and it was Cromwell only who said sternly to his portrait-
maker, "Paint me as I am ; leave not out a scar or blemish."
What was exceptional with Cromwell was habitual with
inspiration. It describes only one perfect, ideal man. It
indulges in no hero-worship. Noah's drunkenness, Jacob'
meanness and duplicity, Aaron's golden calf, the ill-advised
188
THREE DARK EVENTS 189
words of Moses, the despondency of Elijah, the lying and
swearing of Peter, the vengeful spirit of the beloved John,
the awful sin of David, *'the man after God's own heart,"
must all appear in the pictures when the Holy Spirit is the
limner.
Concerning the best of men standing in the limelight
of infinite holiness, we must say with the Psalmist, ''I have
seen an end of all perfection — for thy commandment is
exceeding broad."
The three dark episodes of David's war-career made the
theme of this chapter, are: (i) David's great sin in the
matter of Bathsheba and Uriah. (2) His treatment of his
Ammonite captives. (3) His treatment of his Moabite
captives.
The three are presented in one view because it is probable
that the second, if not also the third, arose from a conscience
blunted by the first. We need not go into the revolting
details, since the record is before you, but consider the
history only in the light of its practical value, seeing it was
recorded "for our admonition."
So far as the first and greatest sin is concerned, it has
evoked a voluminous literature. In the "Pulpit Commen-
tary" alone are more than fifty pages of condensed homilies,
and in Spurgeon's "Treasury of David" is much more, but
perhaps the best homiletical and philosophical treatment you
will find in Taylor's "David, King of Israel." His outline
of discussion is: (i) The precursors of the sin. (2) Its
aggravations. (3) The penitence manifested. (4) The for-
giveness received. (5) The consequences flowing from it.
After all, however, the most searching light on his heart
experiences are found in his own songs of conviction, peni-
tence and forgiveness in the following order: Psalms 38,
6, 5i> 32.
Borrowing somewhat from Taylor's order and treatment
we submit this outline:
190 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
I. The precursors of David's sin. Sin has a genesis and
development. It does not spring into life, like Minerva, full
grown. James, the brother of our Lord, states the case
thus : "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of
God ; for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He himself
tempteth no man; but each man is tempted, when he is
drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. Then the lust,
when it hath conceived, beareth sin, when it is full grown,
bringeth forth death, James i : 13-15. What, then, the ex-
planatory antecedents of his sin?
1. Since his crowning at Hebron he had enjoyed a long
course of unbroken prosperity. Before that event he had
been "emptied from vessel to vessel" and so had not "settled
on his lees,'' but now because he had no changes he becomes
over-confident, less watchful and prayerful.
2. Up to the time of this sin he had been a very busy
man, leading and sharing in all the privations and hazards
of his army, but now, while Joab leads the army against
Kabbah, "David tarried at Jerusalem." While his soldiers
sleep at night on the tented field, David rises from his day-
time bed of luxury to look at eventide on Bathsheba. How
grim must have been the rebuke of Uriah's words: "And
Uriah said unto David, The Ark and Israel, and Judah,
abide in booths ; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my
lord, are encamped in the open field; shall I then go into
mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife?
As thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this
thing," II Sam. 11: 11. It has been well said, "If
Satan tempts busy men, idle and luxurious men tempt
Satan."
3. He had prepared himself for a fall at the weakest
point in his character by polygamy and concubinage, which,
while tolerated under restrictions under Mosaic law, was
expressly forbidden to kings : "He shall not multiply wives
to himself," which was the Mosaic prohibition of the king-
THREE DARK EVENTS 191
dom charter, Deut. 17:17. Sensualism is the sin of Oriental
kings.
4. The sense of irresponsibility to moral law creeps with
insidious power upon the rich and great and socially dis-
tinguished. The millionaires, the upper ten, the great 400 —
what avails their wealth and power if they be not exempt
from the obligations of the seventh commandment? Let the
poor be virtuous. The king can do no wrong. To all such
people the lesson is hard : **God is no respecter of persons."
5. In times of war the bridle is slipped from human
passions.
6. Subservient instruments are always ready to act as
panderers to the great, while obsequious, high society pal-
liates and condones their offences.
7. In such conjuncture always comes opportunity as a
spark of fire in a powder magazine ; millions equally sensual
have not sinned because there was no opportunity, no favor-
able conjuncture of circumstances.
XL The Sin and Its Aggravations. — The sin, with all
its progeny, was primarily sin against God, but it was adul-
tery with Bathsheba, ingratitude, duplicity and murder to
Uriah, complicity in crime with his servants, a sin against
himself and family.
1. It was a presumptuous sin against Jehovah, to whose
favors it was ingratitude and to whose holiness it was insult,
and to whose omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence
it was a brazen dare.
2. It was a violation of his solemn coronation vow at
Hebron as expressed in his own Psalm that he would use
his kingly office to put down offences, and not for indul-
gences in them.
3. From his very exalted position as king over God's
people it caused the enemies of truth to blaspheme then and
ever since. It was a scandal in the etymological sense of
the word, a stumbling-block, over which thousands in every
192 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
age have fallen. An inspired writer has said, *The wicked
eat up the sins of my people." Like buzzards swarming
around carrion, they gather and feast and flap their wings
in gloating when a Christian sins.
4. It served then and does now as an excuse for worse
and smaller men to repeat the offence or to condone other
offences.
5. It put his reputation in the hands of the servants
employed in the transaction, and paved the way for what-
ever blackmail the unscrupulous instrument, Joab, might
choose to exact, so that indeed hereafter "the sons of
Zeruiah will be too hard for him." Whoever calls in Turks,
Tartars and Huns for alHes must afterwards reckon with
the allies.
6. It was a sin against the devoted friendship of his
brave champions, Uriah, the Hittite, and his comrade, Bath-
sheba's father, who for many years of hazard and perse-
cution had been his bulwark.
The meanness of the subterfuge in sending for Uriah that
the offence might be hidden from him by making him an
unwitting "cuckold," the hypocrisy of sending him choice
dishes and the means of drunkenness to the same end, and
the refined cruelty of jmaking him the carrier of the letter
which contained his death warrant, the deliberate provision
for others to die with him when exposed to danger, the
order to withdraw from him and them that they might die,
and the lying ascription of such death to the chances of war,
are unsurpassed in criminal history. A classic legend tells
of such a letter carried by Bellerophon, giving rise to the
proverb, "Beware of Bellerophonic letters."
III. The Sin on the Conscience. — We may not suppose
that David was without compunction of conscience for a
whole year until reproved by Nathan. The Psalms 38
and 6 indicate the contrary. While his crime was osten-
sibly a secret, you may be assured that it was an open secret
THREE DARK EVENTS 198
which greatly damaged the king's reputation, of which he is
evidently conscious. Known to Joab and his household
servants, it would be whispered from lip to ear, and carried
from house to house. Enemies would naturally make the
most of it. The side-look, the shoulder-shrug, and many-
winged rumors would carry it far and wide. Even in the
house of God, where he kept up the form of worship, know-
ing ones would make signs and comment under the thinnest
veil of confidence.
IV. Jehovah Speaks at Last, or Nathan and David. —
Whatever was David's own conception of his sin, or the
judgment of man, our record says, "But the thing that
David had done displeased the Lord. And the Lord sent
Nathan unto David." Four things here impress the mind:
1. God's judgment of human conduct is more than
man's judgment. It is the chief thing. We may hold out
against the adverse judgment of men if God approves in the
matter of the thing condemned, but there is no withstanding
the disapproval of the Holy One.
2. The fidelity of the prophets as mouth-pieces of God.
They make no apologies, nor soften words, nor have respect
of persons. They speak to a king as to a peasant — to a rich
man as to a pauper.
3. The prophet's method of causing David to pass judg-
ment on himself is an inimitable parable that has charmed
the world by its simplicity, brevity, pathos and directness.
4. Its application is like a bolt of lightning : "Thou art the
man !" In one flash of light the heart of the sin is laid bare,
and judgment follows judgment Hke the dreadful strokes of
a trip-hammer, thus: (a) "The sword shall never depart
from thy house.'* (b) "I will raise up evil against thee in
thine own house." (c) "What thou hast done secretly
against another shall be done against thee openly."
V. David's Confession. — It is instant: "I have sinned
against the Lord." There is no trickery nor subterfuge,
194 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
nor evasion, nor defense. His confession is like the pub-
lican's prayer, who stood afar off, not lifting so much as his
eyes to heaven, but smiting upon his breast, and saying,
"God be merciful to me, the sinner." The inspired prophet
knew his penitence was genuine, and announces pardon for
the world to come, but chastisement in this world, thus
explaining those later words of Jesus concerning another
and greater sin which is eternal, having never forgiveness
neither in this world nor the next world.
VI. The Time Penalties. — (i) The death of the child
begotten in sin. (2) Following a father's evil example,
Amnon assaults his sister, Tamar. (3) Following the
father's example, and with much more justice, Absalom
murders Amnon. (4) The devil once loosed, Absalom
rebels against his father. (5) There being now no restraint,
Absalom openly degrades David's concubines, and this too
under the advice of Ahithophel, Bathsheba's grandfather,
who evidently resents the shame put upon his grand-
daughter. (6) Joab pitilessly murders Absalom, in open
violation of the father's orders, and so exacts immunity as
blackmail for his complicity in David's sin. (7) Adonijah*s
rebellion, encouraged by Joab, and his death. Such the long
train of evil consequences of one sin.
Vn. The Sincerity of David's Repentance. — It is evi-
denced by his humility, submission and hope on the death of
his child. The story is very touching. ''The Lord struck
the child that Uriah's wife bare to David and it was very
sick." The child was much beloved, but must die for the
parents' sin. This, David felt keenly: "This baby is dying
for my sin." No wonder he fasted and wept and prayed.
The submission and hope are manifested after the child is
dead. No need now to fast and pray and weep, as when it
was yet alive and perchance might be saved. The death is
of the body only and for this world only. He lives safe and
THREE DARK EVENTS 195
happy in that better world : *'He cannot return to me, but I
may go to him."
In all subsequent ages the doctrines of these words have
illumined houses of mourning, "I shall go to him."
At one stroke it destroys all hope of visitation from the
dead, and at another stroke confers all hope of visitation to
the dead, with all the joys of recognition and reunion.
This is by far the lightest of David's penalties. There is
no hope of reunion when Amnon and Absalom and
Adonijah die. The farewell in their case is eternal. The
most impressive, therefore, of all contrasts is the hopeful
lamentation over this child, and the hopeless lamentation
over Absalom. What a theme for a sermon !
But the sincerity of his penitence is best evidenced in his
Psalms. While the 38th and 6th convey most the sense of
convicting power. Psalm 51, through the ages, has been
regarded as the most vivid expression of contrition and
repentance. Two incidents bearing upon his sincerity and
genuine penitence cited by Taylor are worth repetition :
I. The testimony of Carlyle, that hater of all shams and
hypocrisies, in his "Lecture on the Hero as Prophet," says :
"Faults! the greatest of faults, I should say, is to be conscious
of none. Readers of the Bible, above all, one would think, might
know better. Who is there called the man of God according to
God's own heart? David, the Hebrew king, had fallen into sins
enough; blackest crimes; there was no want of sins. And there-
upon unbelievers sneer and ask, 'Is this your man according to
God's heart?' The sneer, I must say, seems to me but a shallow
one. What are faults? what are the outward details of a life, if the
inner secret of it — the remorse, temptations, true, often baffled,
never-ending struggle of it — be forgotten? It is not in man that
walketh to direct his steps.' Of all acts, is not, for a man,
repentance the most divine? The deadliest sin, I say, were that
same supercilious consciousness of no sin. That is death. The
heart so conscious is divorced from sincerity, humility, and fact,
is dead. It is pure, as dead, dry sand is pure. David's life
and history, as written for us in those Psalms of his, I consider
to be the truest emblem ever given of a man's moral progress
and warfare here below. All earnest souls will ever discern in
it the faithful struggle of an earnest human soul toward what
is good and best. Struggle often baffled sore, baffled down into
196 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
entire wreck, yet a struggle never ended; ever vi^ith tears, repent-
ance, true, unconquerable purpose begun anew. Poor human
nature! Is not a man's walking in truth always that — *a succes-
sion of falls?' Man can do no other. In this wild element of a
life, he has to struggle upward: now fallen, now abased; and ever
with tears, repentance, and bleeding heart, he has to rise again,
struggle again, still onward. That his struggle be a faithful,
unconquerable one — that is the question of questions."
2. The effect of Psalm 51 on Voltaire when he read it
with a view to caricature it. Dr. Leander Van Ess tells it
as an undoubted fact that Voltaire once attempted to bur-
lesque this Psalm, and what was the result? While care-
fully perusing it, that he might familiarize himself with the
train of sentiment which he designed to caricature, he
became so oppressed and overawed by its solemn devo-
tional tone, that he threw down his pen and fell back half
senseless on his couch, in an agony of remorse.
But if Psalm 51 is the highest expression of penitence,
the 32nd is the model expression of the joy of forgiveness :
"Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man unto whom Jehovah imputeth not iniquity."
See the use Paul makes of this Psalm in his great argu-
ment on justification by faith.
By application of this experience of David we learn other
serious lessons.
1. The pen that writes the letter of Uriah must also write
the 51st Psalm.
2. It is easy to fall, but difficult to rise again — a thought
most vigorously expressed by Virgil and less vigorously
rendered by Dryden :
"The gates of Hell are open night and day;
Smooth the descent, and easy is the way;
But to return and view the cheerful skies.
In this the task and mighty labor lies."
3. "One sin another doth provoke;
Murder's as near to lust as fire to smoke."
THREE DARK EVENTS 197
4. The hardening power of sin. It petrifies spiritual
sensitiveness and tenderness. As Burns so well expresses it :
"I waive the quantum of the sin,
The hazard of concealing;
But och ! it hardens a' within,
And petrifies the feelin'."
5. Sooner or later all extenuations fail, and the shifting
of the blame on God or chance or circumstance. There
comes one at last to the naked soul, and pointing accusing
finger, says, "Thou art the man."
"And self to take or leave is free,
Feeling its own sufficiency :
In spite of science, spite of fate,
The Judge within thee, soon or late.
Will cry, 'Thou are the man !'
Say not, I would, but could not, He
Should bear the blame who fashioned me.
Call a mere change of motive, choice !
Scorning such pleas, the inner voice
Cries out, Thou art the man !' "
Edgar Allan Poe has used with dramatic efifect Nathan's
words, "Thou art the man," in one of his detective stories.
In order to force confession, he puts the body of the mur-
dered man in a wine-case, so adjusted on springs that when
the lid is raised by the murderer, the body will sit up and
point the finger at him, while a ventriloquist will make the
dead lips say, "Thou art the man !"
6. The reproach of Uriah has found expression in noble
song:
'The Ark of God is in the field.
Like clouds around the alien armies sweep;
Each by his spear, beneath his shield.
In cold and dew the anointed warriors sleep.
"And can it be? thou liest awake.
Sworn watchman, tossing on thy couch of down;
And doth thy recreant heart not ache
To hear the sentries round the leaguered town?
198 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
"Oh, dream no more of quiet life;
Care finds the careless out ; more wise to vow
Thine heart entire to faith's pure strife;
So peace will come, thou knowest not when or how."
— Lyra Apostolica.
7. On the gracious words of pardon, *The Lord hath put
away thy sin," Keble, in his ''Christian Year," thus writes :
"The absolver saw the mighty grief,
And hastened with relief ;
The Lord forgives; thou shalt not die;
*Twas gently spoke, yet heard on high,
And all the band of angels, us'd to sing
Who many a month hath turned away
With veiled eyes, nor owned his lay.
Now spread their wings and throng around
To the glad mournful sound.
And welcome with bright, open face
The broken heart to love's embrace.
The rock is smitten, and to future years
Springs ever fresh the tide of holy tears
And holy music, whispering peace
Till time and sin together cease."
— Keble, "Sixth Sunday after Trinity."
It has been not improbably supposed that a connection
exists between David's great sin, through its hardening of
his yet impenitent heart and
VIII. His Treatment of the Conquered Ammonites, II
Samuel 12:31 and I Chronicles 20:3. — As this matter calls
for particular and honest treatment let us first of all look at
the text in three English versions. The American Standard
Revision renders the two paragraphs thus: **And he
brought forth the people that were therein, and put them
under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of
iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln ; and thus
did he unto all the cities of the children of Amnion. And
David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem," I Sam.
12 : 31. "And he brought forth the people that were therein,
and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with
axes. And thus did David unto all the cities of the children
of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to
THREE DARK EVENTS 199
Jerusalem/' I Chron. 20:3. The margin puts ''to" for
"under," and adds : *'Or, with a sHght change in the Hebrew
text, 'made them labor at saws, etc. ?' "
Leeser's Jewish English version copies in both passages
the American Revision. The Romanist Douay English ver-
sion thus renders II Samuel 12:31: "And bringing forth
the people thereof, he sawed them, and drove over them
chariots armed with irons and divided them with knives,
and made them pass through brick-kilns: so did he to the
children of Ammon. And David returned with all the
people to Jerusalem." I Chron. 20 : 3 : "And the people that
were therein he brought out : and made harrows, and sleds,
and chariots of iron, to go over them, so that they were cut
and bruised to pieces. In this manner David dealt with all
the cities of the children of Ammon : and he returned with
all his people to Jerusalem."
With the text thus before us the first inquiry is, What
mean these passages, fairly interpreted? Do they mean
merely, as the margin of the American Revision intimates,
that David enslaved his captured prisoners, putting them
to work with saws, harrows and axes, and at brick-making,
or, that he put them to torture by sawing them asunder, driv-
ing over them with iron-toothed harrows, mangling them in
threshing machines, chopping them up with axes, cooking
them alive in brick-kilns? How stand the commentators?
Josephus, adopting the torture interpretation, says, "He tor-
mented them and destroyed them."
The comment in the Romanist version on II Sam 12:31
is, "Sawed" — Heb., "he puts them under saws and under
rollers of iron, and under knives, etc." The Jews say that
Isaiah was killed by being sawed asunder ; to which punish-
ment Paul alludes, Heb. 1 1 :37. "Brick-kilns, or furnaces."
Daniel and his companions were thrown into the fiery fur-
nace, Dan. 3:6-12, Esth. 13:7. Salien blames Joab for
what seems too cruel. But though he was barbarous and
200 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
vindictive, v^e need not condemn him on this occasion, no
more than his master; as we are not to judge of former
times by our own manners. War was then carried on with
great cruelty. With these agree substantially, Kirkpatrick
in Cambridge Bible, Blakie in Expositor's Bible, "The
Speakers' Commentary," 'The Pulpit Commentary," Jamie-
son, Faucett & Brown, Geikie and many others.
On the contrary. Murphy on I Chron 20 : 3, following the
idea of the margin in American Standard Revision, says,
"As saws, harrows or threshing drags, and axes or scythes,
are not instruments of torture or execution, it is obvious
that David did not 'cut' them, but forced or 'put' them to
hard labor as serfs with instruments of husbandry, or in the
making of bricks, as is added in Samuel. The verb ren-
dered 'cut' is nowhere else used in this sense, but in that of
ruling, and therefore employing in forced labor." Nor does
he stand alone. Many authorities on both sides might be
added. But these are sufficient to set the case before you.
In extenuation of the "torture" interpretation the following
argument may be considered : David was under the Mosaic
law. That law bears on two points :
I. The law of war for captured cities, Deut. 20:10-14:
"When thou drawest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then
proclaim peace unto it. And it shall be, if it make thee
answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that
all the people that are found therein shall become tributary
unto thee, and shall serve thee. And if it will make no
peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou
shalt besiege it: and when Jehovah thy God delivereth it
into thy hand, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the
edge of the sword: but the women and the little ones, and
the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil
thereof, shalt thou take for a prey unto thyself; and thou
shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which Jehovah hath
given thee.'*
THREE DARK EVENTS 201
2. The lex-talionis, or law of retaliation, i. e.y ^*An eye
for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, etc." Under the first law a
city carried by storm was devoted to destruction, which
custom unfortunately prevails in modern wars. Under the
second law, the evils practiced on others were requited in
kind. See case of Adoni-bezek, Judges i : 5-7. Applying
this second law, the cruel things done by David to the
Ammonites, under the ''torture" interpretation of our pas-
sages, had been practiced by them against others then and
later. See Amos 1:13. They caused their own children
to pass through the fire to Moloch, hence the retaliation of
the brick-kiln.
The weight of authority seems to favor the "torture"
interpretation, and yet how readily does a humane mind
turn in preference to Murphy's rendering. If this "tor-
ture" interpretation be true (and we must count it doubt-
ful) then we need not cry out too loud in horror at the tor-
ture of prisoners by North American savages, and we may
rejoice at the coming of One who in His Sermon on the
Mount gives us something higher and better than the
lex-talionis.
In the case of the Moabite prisoners made to He prostrate
and measured in bulk by a tape-line, one third to Hve and
two-thirds to die, we find something more merciful than in
the case of the Ammonites, but sufficiently revolting in the
wholesale mathematical method of selecting the living
by lot.
The black and white beans for the Mier prisoners impress
more favorably. The sum of the truth is that war in any
age, now as well as then, "is hell." The reconstruction
measures forced on the conquered South after the war
between the States surpassed in the bitterness of its pro-
longed anguish all the quick tortures of saw, harrow, axe
and brick-kiln inflicted on the Ammonites. No language
can describe the height, depth, length, breadth of the horrors
203 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
of reconstruction; not a fleeting agony like being sawn
asunder, or burnt in a brick-kiln, but a deliberate harrow-
ing of the South back and forth and criss-crossing for
twenty-five years, every tooth in the harrow red-hot, until
the whole harried country found expression for its hopeless
woes in the Lamentation of Jeremiah :
"Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?
Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow?"
There was no measurement of the prostrate South by
tape-line, sparing a part, but one vast humiliation extending
from Virginia to Texas.
And if Jehovah sent condign punishment on Nebuchad-
nezzar, the wicked axe of His vengeance for the spirit with
which this desolation was brought on sinning Jerusalem and
the self-complacency of the deed, so will He yet in His own
way visit His wrath on the land of those who had no pity
on the desolate South.
The Jews are accustomed to excuse David's apparent
ingratitude for Moab's past kindness to his father and
mother, and his seeming disregard of the ties of kindred
through Ruth, on the score that Moab murdered his parents
when trusted to their hospitality. Of this there is no his-
toric evidence. A better reason lies in the fact that Moab
joined the conspiracy with Ammon, Syria and Edom to
destroy David and his kingdom.
QUESTIONS
1. Cite the passages which show that David's wars closed in
a blaze of glory.
2. What said Cromwell to the painter of his portrait?
3. What always the character of inspiration's portrait-painting?
4. What the three great sins that darken this part of David's
career
5. What books show the voluminous homiletical use of the
first and greatest sin?
6. What Taylor's outline?
7. What Psalms, in order, throw the greatest light on his heart
experiences of this sin?
8. What the precursors of this sin, preparing for his fall?
THREE DARK EVENTS 203
9. What the sin itself in its manifold nature?
10. What its aggravations?
11. What evidence that David's sin was on his conscience be-
fore the visit of Nathan?
12. What four things impress the mind in Nathan's words to
David?
13. What may you say of David's confession of sin?
14. What the two-fold verdict on the confession, _ and how
does it explain our Lord's saying on the unpardonable sin?
15. What the time penalties inflicted, and which the mildest?
16. In what ways is the sincerity of David's penitence evi-
denced ?
17. What two doctrines in David's words concerning his child,
"He shall not return to me but I shall go to him," and what the
comfort therefrom?
18. Concerning the evidence of sincere repentance in Psalm
51, what says Carlyle?
19. How did it affect Voltaire?
20. What Psalm the model expression of the happiness of the
forgiveness, and how does Paul use it?
21. What the first lesson of the application on the experience
of David arising from this sin?
22. What the second, and Virgil's expression of it?
23. What couplet on one sin provoking another?
24. Cite the passage from Burns on the hardening power
of sin.
25. Cite the stanzas on "Thou art the man," and give Edgar
Allan Poe's use of the phrase.
26. Cite the stanzas on the reproach of Uriah.
2T. Cite Keble's lines on "The Lord hath put away thy sin."
28. What the two interpretations of I Sam. 12:31 and I Chron.
20:3, and which do you adopt?
29. What scriptural argument may be made in extenuation of
the "torture" theory of interpretation?
30 How do the Jews excuse David's treatment of the Moabite
captives, and what the better reason?
XX
BRINGING UP THE ARK AND THE ESTABLISH-
MENT OF A CENTRAL PLACE OF WORSHIP
Scriptures: References in the Harmony, pp. 125-133
THE wars are now all over, and there has come a
period of rest. The first thing that impresses
David's mind is this: "I have made Jerusalem the
capital of the nation, and Mount Zion is the chief place in
Jerusalem, but in order to keep this people unified, God
must be present. Off yonder at Gibeon is the tabernacle
and the brazen altar, a part of the people worshiping there,
and there is an altar of sacrifice but no altar at Jerusalem.
Ten miles ofif yonder at Kirjath-jearim is the Ark; it has
been there forty-eight years. Lost in the days of Eli to
the Philistines, and returned by the Philistines and stopped
at that place, and there another part of the people are wor-
shiping." You can see how David's mind would be fastened
upon the thought that he must bring that Ark with its sym-
bol of divine presence to his capital, but in order to bring
it he must have a place to put it, so he selects a site for it
and builds a tent, something like the tabernacle which
Moses built, which was still at Gibeon, and it remained
there until Solomon built the temple. After Solomon built
the temple, the tabernacle was no longer regarded. It
passes out of history.
It has been a characteristic of this man's life to consult
God in everything that he does. Now the priest carried two
jewels on his Ephod called the Urim and Thummim, and
^4
BRINGING UP THE ARK g05
through the Urim and Thummim God answered questions
propounded. That Ephod with the Urim and Thummim
had been carried by Abiathar to David in the cave of
Adullam. All along through Hfe he had that with him, and
through these brilliant jewels in some way, we do not know
just how, God answered questions propounded. There was
also instituted an order of prophets who became the mouth-
pieces of Jehovah, so that if a man wanted to know
Jehovah's will he would go to the seer, or prophet, as David
went to Nathan, and as Saul went to Samuel. These were
two ways in which God communicated with the people — the
priest way, through the Urim and Thummim, and the pro-
phet way, through their inspiration. It is the object of
David to gather together at Jerusalem everything sacred —
the Ark, tent, and altar, and the precious Urim and Thum-
mim, so that here now in every way he may hear
from God.
Sometimes God communicated with individuals in dreams
and visions, but ordinarily through the two ways I have
pointed out. We see why he wanted to get the Ark up
there, and how important in order to perpetuate unity and
solidarity of his kingdom; all who would confer with God
must come to his capital.
While David was king it was not an absolute monarchy.
There was what was called the Convocation of Israel — the
general assembly. This section commences: "And David
consulted with the captains of thousands and of hundreds,
even with every leader." Notice that he did not settle mat-
ters by a mere ipse dixit — "words spoken by himself." It
was not by mere royal edict. He wanted the people to see
and commit themselves to it, that this was the best thing to
do for the nation. Sometimes a pastor becomes arbitrary
in deciding what to do when he could accomplish his
object a great deal better if he would confer with his
brethren. David was not just a boss ; he wanted everybody
W6 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
committed. After this consultation it was decided that they
would go for the Ark, and our text tells us how they brought
it from Kirjath-jearim on a cart drawn by oxen, and that
when the oxen stumbled and the cart looked as though it
was going to turn over, Uzzah, one of the men who had
been guiding it, reached out his hand to stop it, and God
struck him dead instantly. That made a deep impression
upon David and the people — as deep as when Nadab and
Abihu offered strange fire upon the altar and the lightning
leaped from God and destroyed them; an impression as
solemn as w^hen at Peter's words Ananias and Sapphira fell
dead under the stroke of God. The question is, why?
The answer is found in the Mosaic law — that while carts
might be used to carry the external things, the posts of the
enclosure, and the curtain of the enclosure, the things of the
sanctuary had to be carried by men, and staves were fitted
into each piece heavy enough to require it so that four men
might carry it. They might put the other things in a cart,
but these sacred things had to be borne by men. In the next
place, only certain men could touch it without death. They
must not only be of the tribe of Levi, but of the family of
Kohath. In Numbers we have the order of the encampment
of the twelve tribes, three on each of the four sides; the
Levites made an inner circle, and the position of the
Kohathites and their duties. Whenever the trumpet
sounded the Kohathites had to pick up the Ark and carry it.
In this case the law was violated, and God, in order to show
that there must be reverence for sacred things, and that His
precise commands must be carried out, made the breach on
Uzzah.
We now come to a question of David, and it is a great
text—I Chron. 13:12: "How shall I bring the Ark of God
home to me ?" What a theme for a sermon ! If I were to
preach on that I would show that wherever the Ark was
there was safety and blessing. After it stopped at Kirjath-
BRINGING UP THE ARK 207
jearim that place was blessed ; after it stopped at the house
of Obed-Edom that home was blessed. Since that Ark was
a symbol of divine presence and divine guidance, it was a
supreme question, "How shall I bring the Ark of God home
to me?" How shall I get the Ark of God into my family,
so that there will be safety, guidance, peace and love? You
see what kind of a sermon could be made out of it.
The whole vast crowd went back to Jerusalem and left
the Ark there. It was a good thing to have, but a bad thing
to touch. It stayed at the house of Obed-Edom three
months, and every hour it brought a blessing to that home.
Our text tells us that David had made him houses in the city
of David and prepared a place for the Ark, if he could ever
get it there: ''How shall I bring it home to me?" The
house that David built for himself was a palace.
The riches that he had made, the commerce that he had
instituted, culminated in a treaty with Hiram, king of Tyre.
Tyre was the great naval power of that age — what England
is now — and through his alliance with Hiram he obtained
the best artificers in wood and metal, skilled workmen, and
cedars from Lebanon. These huge trees were floated to
Joppa, and from Joppa brought across the country to
Jerusalem, and so David had a fine house. When he went
into that house the day it was finished, he wrote a song —
the 30th Psalm. I told you about his gratitude; whenever
a blessing came, it brought immediately from him an expres-
sion of thanksgiving to God. He wrote the 30th Psalm and
sang it at the dedication of the house. He dedicated this
house of his to God. The song commences :
"I will extol thee, O Jehovah ; for thou hast raised me up,
And hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.
Jehovah my God,
1 cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.
O Jehovah, thou hast brought up my soul from sheol;
Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit."
208 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
I told you that in studying the Psalms, you would get the
interpretation of the inner life of David, and that you could
tell from the Psalms what events of his life most impressed
him. Arrange the Davidic Psalms in order, as they express
the life of David. You will commence, of course, with the
23rd, then the 8th, etc. There was a great difference
between the Cave of Adullam and this fine palace. Some
people do not get a home until late in life. Lorenzo Dow
used to sing that he never had a home, and when a friend
made him a present of a home, he declined it because it kept
him from singing his favorite hymn.
David, hearing that the blessings of God had been on
Obed-Edom, and wanting this blessing brought to Jeru-
salem, studied the law, and the law told him how to handle
the Ark; that the Kohathites should bear it, the Levites
only should come near it ; so he set out again with a vast
host — nearly a thousand singers — to go after the Ark.
Three chief singers led with cymbals, then three more
men led the lute or psaltery-crowd, and three more men led
the harp-crowd, and the priests blew the trumpets for sig-
nals. On page 127, I Chron. 15:19, we have: "So the
singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed, with
cymbals of brass to sound aloud ; and Zechariah and Aziel,
and Shemiramoth and Jehiel, and Unni and Eliab, and
Maaseiah and Benaiah with psalteries set to Alamoth."
"Alamoth" means "female choir;" "Sheminith," "male
choir." He started out to get the Ark home, and when he
got to the place they sang this song, the 15th Psalm:
"Jehovah, who shall sojourn in thy tabernacle?
Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness.
And speaketh truth in his heart;
He that slandereth not with his tongue."
Then when the Kohathites lifted up the Ark, he said, "Let
God arise, and His enemies be scattered," the song that
BRINGING UP THE ARK 209
Cromwell sang before battle. And now having picked up
the Ark, the priests with the trumpets gave the signals to
the cymbal-band, the psaltery-band whose singers were
maidens, and to the harp-band. When that vast host drew
near to Jerusalem, they sang the 24th Psalm :
"Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
And be yet lifted up, ye everlasting doors."
They marched in and deposited the Ark in its place in the
tent, and then David repeated the words of Moses : "Return
to thy rest, O Lord," then followed refreshments, and then
followed the benediction.
I will not go over the pageantry, but will present this
thought: The Harmony tells us, page 128, "On that day
David first ordained to give thanks unto the Lord, by the
hand of Asaph and his brethren." In other words, as soon
as he got the Ark in its place, he instituted that remarkable
worship which has never been equalled from that day to
this ; there was something every day, morning sacrifice and
evening sacrifice. He appointed twenty-four thousand
Levites to various services around the sanctuary. There
were twelve different bands, twenty- four pieces each, for
each month of the year, and on great occasions these 288
pieces would be in one grand band with a choir of 4,000
voices ; but every month of the year a certain band would
know that it would have to go in. There were a great many
singers, male and female ; singers corresponding to cymbals,
singers corresponding to harps, and singers corresponding
to cornets. I do not suppose that history has a parallel to
this organization of music. It became somewhat greater in
Solomon's time, but David was the organizer.
We now come to one of the most important lessons in the
Bible, page 131. You will understand that Deut. 12: 10,11,
is the key passage for interpreting the present section.
Here is the direction that after they get over into the
210 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
promised land and their enemies are subdued, the kingdom
is settled, all the wars ended, then God will designate a
central place of worship for His house. David was familiar
with the passage in Deuteronomy. He now believes that
the provisional days are over, and that the time has come
for God to have a fixed habitation where all must come, in
fulfillment of that passage, and he purposes in his heart to
build the most magnificent house for God that the world
has ever seen, H Sam. 7: 1-3. He was not mistaken in the
divine purpose to have a central place of worship; he was
not mistaken that Jerusalem was the place, but he was
mistaken as to the time when, and the man by whom this
glorious temple of God should be erected. It is im-
portant for you to see wherein he was mistaken and wherein
he was not mistaken. God commends him for his zeal :
"It was well that thou didst purpose this in thine
heart." *That is a good thing, but you are not the man
to do it."
The Bible assigns two reasons why David was not the
man. In I Kings 5:3, Solomon, who was the right man,
uses this language: Thou knowest how that David, my
father, could not build a house for the name of Jehovah
his God for the wars which were about him on every side,
until Jehovah put these under the soles of His feet. In
other words, the military power of David had not fully
given rest ; the time of rest had not fully come ; a partial rest
had come, but not the full rest necessary to the estab-
lishment of this house. Solomon then adds: But now
Jehovah my God hath given me rest on every side; there
is neither adversary nor evil occurrence. That is the first
reason.
We find another reason in I Chronicles. David is speak-
ing: "But God said unto me. Thou shalt not build a house
for my name, because thou art a man of war, and hast shed
blood." He refers to it again as follows: "But the word
BRINGING UP THE ARK Sll
of Jehovah came to me saying, Thou hast shed blood abun-
dantly, and hast made great wars : thou shalt not build a
house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood
upon the earth in my sight." First passage I Chron. 28 : 3 ;
second passage I Chron. 22 : 8.
Now go back to the passage in Deuteronomy : "When you
have gotten over into that country and have obtained rest
from all your enemies, then this permanent house of God
shall be built." David mistook, (i) the time — the wars
were not yet ended; (2) the person — he had been a man of
war and had shed blood abundantly, and the builder of the
house of God must be a prince of peace. We will have use
for this thought when we come to consider the antitype.
Whereupon the message to David, the message of our text
(and I want you to see that this divine message to David
made the deepest impression ever made upon his mind by
any event of his life), made a stronger impression upon the
Jewish mind after his time than any preceding thing. You
will find the Psalms full of references to it, and the prophets
magnify it above every promise, particularly Isaiah, Daniel
and Ezekiel, and you will find that this message that Nathan,
from God, delivered to David, thrilled the Jewish heart with
marvelous expectation of the Messiah, David's son, the
Great King that was to come. Frequent reference is made
to it in the New Testament, and Matthew's whole gospel was
written on the thought of the coming of the King. This is
his great theme.
In order to see how this impressed David, notice the exact
words spoken to him, II Sam. 7 : 4-7 : ''And it came to pass
the same night, that the word of Jehovah came unto Nathan,
saying, Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith Jehovah,
Shalt thou build me a house for me to dwell in ? for I have
not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up the
children of Israel out of Egypt, even unto this day, but have
walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all places wherein I
^n THE HEBREW MONARCHY
have walked with all the children of Israel, spake I a word
with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to be
shepherd of my people Israel, saying. Why have ye not built
me a house of cedar?" "During the period of the judges,
when I selected a judge like Samson, or Gideon, or Barak,
did I at any time say to any of these judges that the time
had come to build me a permanent house ?" (Read II Sam.
7:8-16). That was the message and it is very easy to see
from the context that at the time it made a most wonderful
impression upon the mind of David, as you further note
from his prayer following right after it. (Read II Sam.
7:18, 19, and I Chron. 17:16, 17). Consider particularly
these words: "And this too after the manner of men, O
Lord Jehovah." Luther translates that passage thus : "This
is after the manner of a man who is God, the Lord." That
is to say, such a promise cannot fulfil itself in a man of
low degree. The Chronicles passage has it: "Thou hast
regarded me according to the estate of a man of high
degree." David does not understand that his son Solomon
is to exhaust the meaning of this passage.
In order to prove the impression made on David's mind,
let us read all of Psalm yz which closes with the words of
David, and ends a book of the Psalms. The subscription
is: "The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended."
You may easily gather from this Psalm that when this
promise was made through Nathan that God would build
him a house — house meaning family — except the Lord
build a house, they labor in vain to build it, since children
are a heritage of the Lord. The King in his mind appears
from Psalm 2. (Read Psalm 2:1-8.) Then again in
Psalm no "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my
right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool." This
king is to be a priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
Then in Psalm 89. (Read 89:2-4.) Notice again in Psalm
45. (Read the entire Psalm.) Now we want to know how
BRINGING UP THE ARK 213
this promise to David impressed the mind of the prophet.
(Read Isaiah ii : i-io.)
The genealogies of both Matthew and Luke prove that
Jesus w^as a descendant of David. (Read Luke 1:31-33
and 68-70.)
Another passage (Read Hebrews 1:5). ''Again" here
refers to Christ's resurrection. His soul had gone up to
God at His death on the cross to make atonement, and after
the atonement returned for the body, and when the resurrec-
tion took place God said, ''Let all the angels of God worship
Him." Again, in Hebrews, he says that Moses built a
house, the tabernacle, and Solomon, the lineal son of David,
built a house, the temple. But the temple that Solomon
built was out of unfeeling rock, unthinking stone, quarried
as rough ashlars from the mountains ; then by certain proc-
esses smoothed and fashioned into things of beauty, to be
fitted into the earthly temple of the Lord, which is a type of
human being, quarried as rough ashlars from the mountains
of sin ; then by marvelous works of regeneration and sanc-
tification, they become smooth ashlars ready for fitting into
the temple of God, the living temple, to be a habitation for
God, through the Spirit, at the end of the world. See also
the last chapter of Revelation.
My point is, that while this promise of God through
Nathan rested for the time being on Solomon, who did
build a house, that it looked to a higher than Solomon, to a
more distant day. Let us read Luther's translation again :
'This is after the manner of a man who is God, our Lord."
When you study the vast literature of the Old Testament —
say such a series as Hengstenberg's "Christology" or
Hengstenberg's "Kingdom of God," or any good commen-
tary on II Sam. 7 and parallel passages in Chronicles, you
will find that they regard this promise made to David as the
most remarkable ever made. The prophetic light grew
brighter all the time. Way back yonder the seed of the
^14 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
woman, Abel, then Seth, Shem, Abram, Isaac, Jacob
David, but here the Messianic light becomes most brilliant in
this promise.
QUESTIONS
1. What the general conditions of affairs at this point, and
what prompted David to bring up the Ark from Kirjath-jearim?
2. In what three ways did God communicate with His people,
and the bearing of these on the removal of the Ark and Taber-
nacle to Jerusalem?
3. What course did David pursue, and the lesson therefrom,
what^ incident here shows the sanctity of the Ark and the im-
pression made by it, and what Mosaic law was violated here?
4. What text here for a sermon, and the line of thought sug-
gested ?
5. Give an account of the building and dedication of David's
house.
6. What course did David pursue before attempting again to
bring up the Ark?
7. Describe the procession that went after the Ark. What
Psalm did they sing as they started?
8. What did David say when the Kohathites lifted up the Ark,
and what general sang it before battle?
9. What song did they sing as they approached Jerusalem, and
what did David say when they deposited the Ark in the tent?
10. Describe the course of worship instituted by David.
11. Cite the direction for the establishment of the central place
of worship; what David's purpose concerning it; wherein was
he not mistaken, and wherein was he mistaken?
12. Why was not David the man to build the temple?
13. What message brought to David by Nathan, what impression
did it make on his own mind, on the Jewish mind, and what O. T.
and N. T. references to it?
14. What Luther's translation of, "And this too after the man-
ner of men, O Lord Jehovah," and what its meaning?
15. What the impression made on David's mind, and what the
proof ?
16. How did this promise to David impress the mind of
Isaiah?
17. Who was the immediate fulfillment oj^ this promise to
David, who the remote fulfillment, and what the N. T. proof?
XXI
DAVID'S KINDNESS TOWARDS JONATHAN'S
SON; BIRTH OF SOLOMON; FAMILY
TROUBLES ; THE THREE YEARS
OF FAMINE
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 133, 134, 138
OUR present discussion commences on page 133,
II Sam. 9 : 1-13, David's kindness toward Jonathan's
son, Mephibosheth.
When Jonathan's child was five years old, there came to
his mother's home an account of the death of the father on
the battlefield of Gilboa, and as the nurse that carried him
was frightened and ran with the five year old child, she
stumbled and fell, or let the child fall, and it crippled him
for life. Jonathan had acquired a very considerable estate.
The subsequent history referring to Mephibosheth will
appear in a later chapter. David's kindness to Mephibosheth
will give us the conclusion of the history. It certainly is a
touching thing that in this connection David remembers the
strong tie of friendship between him and Jonathan, and
upon making inquiry if there be any left of Jonathan's
house, he finds that there is one child, this crippled son, and
he appoints Ziba, a great rascal, by the way, as we learn
later, to be the steward of the estate, the rents of the estate to
be paid to Mephibosheth, and Mephibosheth to eat at the
king's table. The closing paragraph, verse 13, "So
Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem ; for he did eat continually
at the king's table; and he was lame on both his feet."
Spurgeon takes this for a text, and preaches a remarkable
215
216 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
sermon on it. He makes it in a sense illustrate the imper-
fect saint, the lame feet representing the imperfection, con-
tinually feasting at the table of his king. That is the man-
ner in which he spiritualizes it, and by which he illustrates
the great privilege of a saint to eat continually at the table
of his Lord, to sup with Him and be with Him.
The next point is the birth of Solomon, the fourth son of
Bathsheba. He received two names : *'Solomon," which
means ''peace," and ''J^^i^i^h," w^hich means the Lord's
"beloved," and an announcement was made by the prophet
that this child should be the successor of David.
The next paragraph tells about the family of David, and
has an important bearing upon the subsequent history of
Absalom. Let us give special attention to this record of
David's family. We have names in the Bible of seven of
his wives. There were others not named. We have the
names of nineteen sons and one daughter. They were the
children of his regular wives. He had a good many other
daughters not named. Then he had a number of children
by his concubines. So we have the names of seven wives
and twenty children. There were more wives and more
children, but these are enough. I suppose he did not have
names enough to go around.
As introductory to the next chapter, which is on Absalom,
note that four of these sons became very important in the
history. Amnon, the first son, and the son of his first wife,
Ahinoam, will figure in the Absalom chapter. The third
was Absalom, but his mother was Maacah, the daughter of
Talmai, king of Geshur. Geshur is located in the hills of
Bashan. These people were left there contrary to the
divine law ; that is the law first violated. God told them not
to permit any Canaanites to remain in the Promised Land,
but we learn in Joshua 13:13 that the Geshurites were
allowed to remain. Another law was, as you learned from
Deut. 7, that the Israelitish people should not marry into
DAVID AND MEPHIBOSHETH 217
these tribes. David violated that law by marrying the
daughter of the king of Geshur, So there are two viola-
tions of the law in connection with Absalom. Absalom was
half Geshurite and half Israelite. The next son of any par-
ticular note was the fourth son, Adonijah. We come to him
later. His mother was still a different woman, about whom
we do not know anything in particular. The next son in
the history is Solomon, the tenth son. The first son of
importance in the history is Amnon; second important in
history (third son) Absalom ; third son important in history
by a different mother is Adonijah ; and the fourth important
son (the tenth son) Solomon. The law in Deuteronomy
says that if they should select a king, he should not multiply
wives; there is the third law violated. So, in going back
to the past violations of the law of God, the evils of polyg-
amy are manifest in David's history. There would neces-
sarily be jealousies on the part of the various mothers in
their aspirations for their sons. It is said that every crow
thinks its nestling is the whitest bird in the world, and
every mother thinks her child is E Pluribus Unum. She is
very ambitious for him, and she looks with a jealous eye
upon any possible rival of her child. These four sons —
Amnon, Absalom, Adonijah and Solomon, all illustrate the
evils of polygamy.
Yet another law was violated. Kings now make mar-
riages for State reasons ; for instance, the prince of England
will be contracted in marriage to some princess of France,
or a princess of England contracted in marriage to a prince
of Spain, Hke PhiHp 11. Through these State marriages
some of the greatest evils that have ever been known came
upon the world, and some of the greatest wars. When
David married the daughter of the king of Geshur, there
was a political reason for it ; he wanted to strengthen him-
self against Saul, and that gave him an ally right on the
border of the territory held by Saul. We will find Solomon
218 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
making these political marriages, marrying the daughter of
the king of Egypt, for instance. That is the fourth law
violated, all in connection with Absalom. I name one other
law, a law which included the king and every other father,
that his children should be disciplined and brought up in the
fear and admonition of God. That Eli did not do, and
David did not do. The violation of that law appears in the
case of Absalom.
In running comment on our text we next consider from
page 138 National Calamities, II Sam. 21:1: *'And there
was a famine in the days of David three years, year after
year; and David sought the face of the Lord." In the book
of Deuteronomy, Moses in his farewell address sets before
the people so clearly that they could not possibly misunder-
stand, that famines and pestilences are God's messengers of
chastisement; that if they kept God's law they should be
blessed in basket and store, but if they sinned He would
make the heavens brass above and the earth iron beneath.
This famine resulted from a drought. When the
drought first commenced, no particular attention was paid
to it, except that everybody knew that it meant hard times.
The second year came and still no rain, no crops, no grass,
and it began to be a very serious matter. When the third
year came, it became awful, and men began to ask what was
the cause of it, and they remembered God's law that when
they sinned against Him, He would send famine and pesti-
lence upon them. David determines to find out the cause,
so he goes before the Lord and asks Him the reason of this
terrible chastisement on the land, and the answer is given
in our text: "And the Lord said, It is for Saul, and his
bloody house, because he put to death the Gibeonites."
Let us look at that case of Saul. Saul was king of Israel ;
David had been anointed to succeed him, and there was
sharp jealousy between David and Saul, particularly upon
Saul's part, and he was seeking methods to strengthen him-
DAVID AND MEPHIBOSHETH 219
self. One thing that a king needs, or thinks that he needs,
in order to strengthen himself with his adherents, is to have
places to give them — fat offices, estates to bequeath to them.
Saul, being a poor man himself, looks around to see how he
can fill his treasury and reward his followers, particularly
the Benjamites, and right there in the tribe of Benjamin
live the Gibeonites. After the fall of Jericho, one of the
Canaanitish tribes determined to escape destruction by
strategy. So they sent messengers to Joshua in old travel-
worn clothes, with old bread in their haversacks, as if they
had been a long time on their journey. They met Joshua
and proposed to make a covenant with him, and he, judging
from their appearance and from the rations they carried,
supposed that they must have come a long way and were,
therefore, not people of that country, entered into a solemn
covenant with them. They thus fooled him and the princes
of Israel swore an oath before God that they would main-
tain their covenant with the Gibeonites. Very soon the
fraud practiced was found out, and while they could not, for
their oath's sake, kill these people, they made them "hewers
of wood and drawers of water" — in other words, servants.
They let them remain in the land in that servile position, a
kind of peonage state. These Gibeonites had been living
there, holding their land, yet servants of the people for
about 400 years, uncomplainingly submitting to their posi-
tion, but on account of the oath made by Joshua, retaining
their possessions.
Saul, as I said, looked around to find resources of reve-
nue and said to himself, ''Suppose we kill these Gibeon-
ites and take what they have." And he and his sons, ''the
bloody house of Saul," made an attack upon these people
and took everything that they had in the world and divided
it up among the Benjamites. Saul afterwards boasted of it.
He said, "What has David to offer you, and who will give
you estates, as I have given you estates?" This act upon
no THE HEBREW MONARCHY
his part, (and his family assisted him in it,) was unpro-
voked, cold-blooded, murderous and confiscatory, with ref-
erence to their property, upon a people that had been faith-
ful as servants for 400 years. And even up to this time in
David's reign these people were yet deprived of any redress.
God did not overlook that wrong. He holds communities
responsible for community sins, nations responsible for
national sins, and just as He sent a plague upon the children
of Israel on account of Achan, so He sent this famine upon
Israel, because in the night-time this poor, poverty-stricken
people, who had been defrauded of home and property and
almost destroyed by the ^'bloody house of Saul,'' prayed
unto God. God hears such cries. Whenever a great
national injustice is done, as Pharaoh did to the Israelites in
Egypt, retribution follows, and as the Spaniards did to the
Indian tribes whom they subjugated, particularly in Cuba,
there came a day when the thunder of American guns in
Santiago avenged upon Spain the wrongs that Cuba had
borne for 400 years. "There is no handwriting in the sky
that this people is guilty of a great inhumanity or national
wrong, and therefore I will send a pestilence," and He sends
it and leaves them to inquire the cause.
He sent this famine, and the third year men began to
inquire as to its cause, and God answered by pointing out
this sin. If that is the cause this nation must remain under
the scorching fire of that drought until expiation is in
some way made for that sin. David sent for the remnants
of the Gibeonites and acknowledged that this wrong had
been done to them, and that they, as remnants of the multi-
tude that had been slain by Saul, had a right to blood
revenge ; so David said to them, "I will do what you say to
right this wrong." They said the children of the man that
did this shall die ; he himself is out of the way, but they are
living. " The bloody house of Saul,' seven of them, must
be given up to be put to death as we think fit and where we
DAVID AND MEPHIBOSHETH 221
think fit, so that compensation may be made. They must
be gibbeted, crucified, and they must remain there in Gibeah,
Saul's home, and the scene of the crime that he committed ;
they must remain there until the offense is expiated."
David declined to let any of Jonathan's sons help pay that
penalty. He exempted Mephibosheth, who was eating con-
tinually at his table, and who, doubtless, judging from the
character of Jonathan, had nothing to do with this grievous
crime. He selected two sons of Saul's concubine, Rizpah.
She was a very beautiful woman, and after Saul's death
there came very near being a civil war about her. She
occasioned disturbances between Abner and Ish-bosheth, who
was then king. She had two sons, one named Mephibosheth,
the younger one, and the older one, Armoni. Her two sons
and the five sons of Merab (not Michal, as the text has it)
were taken by the Gibeonites to Gibeah, Saul's home, put to
death and then gibbeted, after they had been put to death
by crucifixion, or put to death and then crucified. "Cursed
is every one that hangeth on a tree.'' This execution
occurred about the time of the passover, and the bodies had
to hang there until it was evident that God has removed the
penalty. The rain did not come until October, about the
time of the last feast, so these bodies hung there six solid
months. Rizpah took her shawl, or cloak, and made a kind
of a booth out of it, and resting under it, she stayed there
six months and kept off carrion birds and beasts of prey
from these bodies — two of them her children — all day and
all night long — in her mother love, wishing that the curse
could be lifted from the bones of her children ; wishing that
the disgrace could be removed ; wishing that they might be
taken down and have an honorable sepulture. Six months
after she took that position it rained, the drought was
broken, the famine stopped, and the sin was appeased.
David heard how this mother had remained there and it
touched his heart. He had the bodies taken down and also
222 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
had the bones of Saul and Jonathan brought from Jabesh-
gilead, and accorded to all an honorable burial.
What this woman did has impressed itself upon the
imagination of all readers of the Bible. The undying
strength of a mother's love! It impressed itself upon the
mind of an artist, and a marvelous picture was made of this
woman fighting off the carrion birds and jackals. It
appealed to the poet, and more than one poem has been
written to commemorate the quenchless love of this mother.
A mother's love suggested by the case of Rizpah is found in
an unpublished poem by N. P. Willis. He represents the
famine as so intense that the oldest son snatches a piece of
bread from a soldier's hand and takes it to his mother, and
the youngest son is represented as selling his fine Arab horse
for a crust of bread and bringing it to his mother. When
I was a schoolboy at old Independence, our literary club had
a regulation that every member should memorize at least
one couplet of poetry every day and recite it. I memorized
a great many. I remember my first two. The first one was
'The man that dares traduce because he can
With safety to himself is not a man."
The second one was
"In all this cold and hollow world
There is no fount of strong, and deep, and deathless love
Save that within a mother's heart."
Dore, who illustrated "Paradise Lost," Dante's "Inferno"
and the Bible, was a wonderful artist. He had 45,000 spe-
cial sketches and paintings. Perhaps in the Dore gallery of
Bible illustrations this picture appears. The artist puts in
his picture seven crosses ; on one a carrion bird has alighted,
and others are coming, and peeping out of the rocks are the
jackals gathering to devour these bodies, and there is Rizpah
frightening away the birds and jackals. It is a marvelous
picture.
DAVID AND MEPHIBOSHETH 223
QUESTIONS
1. Rehearse the story of Mephibosheth, and David's kindness to
him. Who preached a sermon on II Sam, 9:13?
2. What great king was born just at this time, what his names,
and the meaning of each?
3. How many wives had David, and how many children?
4. What four sons of David became important in history, what
five violations, in connection with Absalom, of the law of Moses,
and what the evils of polygamy in David's case?
5. What national calamity just now, its cause, and how ascer-
tained ?
6. Rehearse the story of the Gibeonites.
7. What principle of God's judgments here set forth?
8. How was this offense expiated?
9. Who were exempted, and why?
10. How did Rizpah show her mother-love in this case, and its
impress upon the world?
XXII
THE SIN OF NUMBERING THE CHILDREN OF
ISRAEL, ITS PENALTY AND THE
HISTORY OF ABSALOM
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 138-141, 134-137
ON PAGE 138 of the Harmony preserved in both
II Samuel and Chronicles, is an account of another
great affliction from God, and this affliction took the
form of a pestilence in which 70,000 people perished. In
one account it is said that the Lord moved David to number
Israel, in the other that Satan instigated it. God is some-
times said to do things that He permits. There was a
spirit of sinfulness in both the nation and king, on account
of the great prosperity of the nation. Some preachers hold-
ing protracted meetings, and some pastors in giving their
church roll, manifest a great desire to put stress upon num-
bers. So David ordered a census taken of the people. We
search both these accounts in vain to find the law of the
census carried out, that whenever a census was taken a
certain sum of money from each one whose census was
taken was to be put into the sanctuary. It was not wrong
to take a census, because God himself ordered a census in
Numbers. The sin was in the motive which prompted
David to number Israel on this occasion. Satan was at his
old trick of trying to turn the people against God, that God
might smite the people. Oftentimes when we do things,
the devil is back of the motive which prompts us to do them.
It is a strange thing that the spirit of man can receive direct
impact from another spirit.
224
HISTORY OF ABSALOM 225
It is also a strange thing that a man so secular-minded as
Joab, understood the evil of this thing better than David.
Joab worked at taking this census for nearly ten months,
but did not complete it ; he did not take the census of Levi
or Benjamin. Chronicles gives the result in round num-
bers, which does not exactly harmonize with II Samuel, one
attempting to give only round numbers. Both show a great
increase in population. After the thing was done, David's
conscience smote him, he felt that here were both error and
sin ; and he prayed about it, and when he prayed, God sent
him a message, making this proposition : "I offer thee three
things" (try and put yourself in David's place and see which
of these three things you would have accepted) : (i) ''Shall
seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land?" He
had just passed through three years of famine, and did not
want to see another, especially one twice as long as the
other. (2) "Or wilt thou flee three months before thy foes,
while they pursue thee?" He rejected that because it put
him at the mercy of man. (3) The last alternative was,
"Or shall there be three days' pestilence in thy land ?" And
David made a remarkable answer : "Let us fall now into the
hands of the Lord, for His mercies are great; and let me
not fall into the hands of man." I would myself always
prefer that God be the one to smite me rather than man.
"Man's inhumanity to man makes countless millions
mourn." It is astonishing how cruel man can be to man
and woman to woman, especially woman to woman.
Always prefer God's punishment ; He loves you better than
anyone else, and will not put on you more than is just ; but
when the human gets into the judgment seat, there is no
telling what may happen. Before this three days' pestilence
had ended 70,000 people had died. The pestilence was now
moving upon the capital, and David was going to offer a
sacrifice to God and implore His mercy. When he saw the
angel of death with his drawn sword, about to swoop down
^26 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
upon Jerusalem, then comes out the magnanimity of David :
"ho, I have sinned and I have done perversely; but these
sheep, what have they done ?" Who greater than David used
similar language in order to protect his flock? Our Lord
in Gethsemane. Thereupon God ordered a sacrifice to be
made, its object being to placate God, to stay the plague, a
glorious type of the ultimate atonement.
When I was a student at Independence, the convention
met there, and Dr. Bayless, then pastor of the First Baptist
church at Waco, took this text: *Tf any man love not the
Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha." He
commenced : ''When the flaming sword of divine justice was
flashing in the sunbeams of heaven, and whistling in its
fiery wrath, Jesus interposed and bared His breast, saying,
'Smite me instead.' " Bayless was a very eloquent preacher.
But though our Lord interposed, yet on Him, crushed with
imputed sin, that sword was about to fall. His shrinking
humanity prayed, "Save me from the sword!" But the
Father answered, "Awake, O Sword, smite the shepherd
and let the flock be scattered." And here we find the type.
The threshing floor of Araunah became the site of
Solomon's temple. It was the place where Abraham brought
his son, and bound him on an altar, and Hfted up the knife
when the voice of God called: "Abraham, stay thy hand,
God himself hath provided a sacrifice." There Abraham
started to offer Isaac ; there the temple was afterward built,
and the brazen altar erected on which these sacrificial types
were slain. I ask you not only to notice David's vicarious
expiation, but also the spirit of David as set forth in verse
24, page 141 : "Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the
Lord my God, which cost me nothing." That old Canaanite
man was a generous fellow, and offered to give him that
place for such a purpose and to furnish the oxen for the
sacrifice, but David refused to make an offering that cost
him nothing. Brother Truett preaches a great sermon on
HISTORY OF ABSALOM 227
that subject: "God forbid that I should offer an offering
unto the Lord that costs me nothing." When he wants to
get a really sacrificial collection ; wants people to give until
it hurts, he takes that text and preaches his sermon. We
must not select for God that which costs us nothing. I will
not say tens or hundreds, but I will say thousands of times
in my life I have made such offerings where it cost me
something — where it really hurt.
History of Absalom. — In the last discussion it was shown
that there had been a number of antecedent sins in connec-
tion with Absalom : ( i ) It was a sin that the Geshurites had
been left in the land; (2) It was a sin that David had mar-
ried a Geshurite; (3) That he had married for State rea-
sons; (4) That he had multipHed wives; (5) That he did
not instruct and discipline Absalom. Absalom stands among
the most remarkable characters of the O. T. He was
the handsomest man in his day, according to the record.
He was perfect in physical symmetry and body. That
counts a good deal with many people, but here it is not a
case of "pretty is that pretty does." He had outside beau-
ties to a marvelous degree. In that poem of N. P. Willis,
he assumes that Absalom's body is before David in the
shroud, and says that as the shroud settled upon the body
it revealed in outline the matchless symmetry of Absalom.
Absalom had remarkable courage; there is nothing in the
history to indicate that he was ever afraid of anything or
anybody. Again, he had great decision of character; he
knew exactly what he wanted ; he was utterly unscrupulous
as to the means to secure it. However, he was a man of
most remarkable patience; he had passions and hate, and
yet he could hold his peace and wait years to strike. That
shows that he was not impulsive; that he could keep his
passions under the most rigid control. The idea of a young
man like Absalom under such an indignity waiting two years
and then carefully planning and bringing his victims under
gas THE HEBREW MONARCHY
his hand and smiting them without mercy ! That is malice
aforethought. He alone could make Joab bend to him ; he
sent for Joab, but Joab did not come; then he sent to his
servant saying, "Set fire to Joab's barley field." That
brought him ! Spurgeon has a sermon on that. You know
that a terrapin will not crawl when you are looking at him
unless you put a coal of fire on his back. Absalom put a
coal of fire on Joab's back. Then, to show the character
of the man, he could get up early in the morning and go to
the gate of the city and listen to every grievance in the
nation, pat each fellow on the back and whisper in his
ear, "Oh, if I were judge in Israel your wrong would be
righted !" There is your politician. Now for a man to keep
that up for years indicates a fixedness of purpose, absolute
control over his manner. Whoever supposes Absalom to
have been a weak-minded man is mistaken. Whoever sup-
poses him to have been a religious man is mistaken. He
had not a spark of religion.
David's oldest son, Amnon, commits the awful ofifense set
forth in the first paragraph of this section. Words cannot
describe the villainy of it, and if Absalom under the hot in-
dignation of the moment had smitten Amnon, he would have
been acquitted by any jury. But that was not Absalom's
method. He intended to hit and hit to kill, but he was going
to take his time, and let it be as sudden as death itself when
it came. David refrains from punishing Amnon. Under
the Jewish law he could have been put to death at once, and
he ought to have been, but David could not administer the
law ; seeing his own guilt in a similar case, stripped him of
the moral power to execute the law.
You will find that whenever yo\i do wrong, it will make
you more silent in your condemnation of wrong in others.
We now come to a subject that has been the theme of my
own preaching a good deal : "Now Joab, the son of Zeruiah,
perceived that the king's heart was toward Absalom," but he
HISTORY OF ABSALOM 229
also perceived that that affection was taking no steps to
bring about a reconcihation, so he falls upon a plan. He
sent a wise woman of Tekoa to find David, feigning a griev-
ance as set forth here, who among other things said, *'We
must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which
cannot be gathered up again,'' i.e., from one against whom
our anger is extended, but in behalf of whom we are inter-
ceding. The fact that God had not killed him was proof
that He was sparing him that he might repent. "But God
deviseth means whereby His banished shall not be perpet-
ually expelled." The application intended is this: "Now
David, you are doing just the other way. You have only a
short time to live, and when you die your opportunities of
reconciliation are gone forever. Imitate God ; devise means
to bring your banished one home." David acted on this
advice and sent Joab after Absalom, but he did not imitate
God fully; he had Absalom brought to Jerusalem, but would
not see him. Absalom waited there under a cloud for three
years, and when he could stand it no longer, by burning
Joab's barley field he forced him to bring about a reconcilia-
tion. Absalom's object in bringing about this reconciliation
was to put him in position to rebel. He knew that the tenth
son, Solomon, was announced as the successor to Davd, and
he was the older son, and under the ordinary laws of primo-
geniture entitled to the kingdom. So he determines to be
king.
David at this time, as we learn from Psalm 41, was labor-
ing under an awful and loathsome sickness — a sickness that
separated him from his family, from his children and from
his friends. This caused him to be forgotten to a great
extent. It was a case of "when you drop out of sight, you
drop out of mind." While the people saw nothing of David,
they were seeing much of Absalom ; he had his chariot and
followers, and paraded the streets every day, and his ad-
mirers would say, "There is a king for you! We want a
^30 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
king that is somebody !'* David in retirement, Absalom con-
spicuous, making promises and being the oldest son, cap-
tured the hearts of the people. Among these was Ahitho-
phel. Then Absalom sent spies out all over the country and
said, "When you hear the trumpet blow, you may know that
Absalom is reigning." He went down to Hebron and an-
nounced himself as king. When the word is brought to
David that the people have gone from him, there seems to be
no thought in his mind of resistance; he prepares to leave
the city, leave the Ark of God and the house of God. Leav-
ing his concubines and taking his wives and children with
him, he sets out, and upon reaching Mt. Olivet, looks back
upon the abandoned city, and weeps. A great number of the
Psalms were composed to commemorate his feelings during
this flight. Both priests, Abiathar and Zadok, wanted to
take the Ark with them, but David sent them back, saying
he wanted some there to watch for him and send him word.
Never in the annals of time do we find a more Hvely his-
toric portraiture of men and events than here. Each lives
before us as we read: "Ittai, Abiathar, Zadok, Hushai, Ziba,
Shimei and Abishai.'*
QUESTIONS
1. How do you harmonize II Sam. 24:1 and I Chron, 21:1?
2. What the sin of this numbering of Israel?
3. What the lessons to preachers?
4. What was David's course?
5. What God's proposition to David?
6. What David's answer, and reason for his choice?
7. How was the plague finally stayed?
8. What type here, and the N. T. fulfillment?
9. What the site of Solomon's temple?
ID. What historic events connected with this place?
11. What great text for a sermon here, and who has preached
a noted sermon from it?
12. Rehearse here the antecedent sins in connection with
Absalom ?
13. What his physical appearance?
14. Analyze his character.
HISTORY OF ABSALOM 2S1
15. What the lesson to preachers from the sin of Amnon and
David's attitude toward it?
16. What the lesson for David from the woman of Tekoa?
17. How did David receive it?
18. To what expedient did Absalom resort, and why?
19. What David's disadvantage and Absalom's advantage here?
20. What David's course when he saw that the hearts of the
people had turned toward Absalom?
21. What the nature of this part of the history?
XXIII
DEATH OF ABSALOM ; PREPARATION FOR SOL-
OMON'S ACCESSION AND THE BUILDING
OF THE TEMPLE
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 141, 142, 148-163
WE should continually bear in mind that in order to
interpret the inner life of David, the Davidic
Psalms must be studied in connection with the his-
tory. I never got a true insight into the character of this
man, into his religious life, into his staying powers, until I
studied the history very carefully in connection with the
Psalms. I spent one whole summer studying the history
of David in the Psalms.
David stopped at Mahanaim ; that is the place where Jacob
met the angelic host, as the name signifies. While Absa-
lom was making his muster, David was also mustering a
host ; while Absalom was godless and prayerless, David was
penitent for his sins, humble toward God, and courageous
toward men. Absalom appointed as his commander-in-
chief a nephew of David, a son of Abigail; David had for
his commanders Joab, Joab's brother Abishai, and the Git-
tite, Ittai.
One of the most touching things in connection with
David's stay at Mahanaim is the coming together from three
different directions of three friends to help: "Shobi the son
of Nahash of Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and
Machir the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the
Gileadite of Rogelim, brought beds, basins, and earthen ves-
sels, and wheat, and barley, and meal, and parched corn,
S32
DEATH OF ABSALOM 233
and beans, and lentils, and parched pulse, and honey, and
butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine, for David, and for the
people that were with him, to eat." It is noticeable always,
however, that a man of strong character will draw to him
friends whose friendship cannot be broken. David's charac-
ter developed friendship so that people would come to him
and stand by him to the very last extremity. Of course
there were some traitors. Absalom could draw men to him,
but could not hold them.
The battle between the opposing armies took place in what
is called the "Wood of Ephraim," a very considerable forest
somewhere near the banks of the Jordan. David's army
was in three divisions. He wanted to lead in person, but
they objected and he stayed over the gate of the city, with
one concern in his heart, deeper than all others, and that
was about the fate of his son, Absalom ; he was very much
devoted to him, foolishly so, as the charge that he gave to
each officer as each division marched through the gate indi-
cates : 'Tor my sake deal gently with Absalom." Absalom's
army was utterly routed.
I remember preaching a sermon in 1887, when canvassing
the state for prohibition, on the text: "Do thyself no
harm," basing my argument upon this thought, that no man
can cause a harm that he does to terminate in himself. A
man might be somewhat excused for doing harm to himself,
if he harms only himself. I illustrated Absalom's harming
himself in two scenes. First, on that battlefield 20,000 men
lay dead ; a man goes over the field and tries to identify the
slain. He turns over a victim whose face is to the ground,
and feels in his pockets to see if he can find anything to
identify him, and perhaps finds a letter from his wife stained
with his heart's blood. It reads: "When are you coming
home? The children every evening sit out on the gatepost
and look toward the scene of war until their eyes fill with
tears, then come in and say, 'Mamma, whenever is papa
234 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
coming home?'" Never! There are 20,000 men like him,
20,000 wives Hke that wife, and 40,000 children like those
children, all harmed because Absalom did harm to himself !
The other scene of the picture was the old man, the father,
at the gate of the city, listening for news of the battle, and
when the message is received, colder than lead and sharper
than the dagger, it strikes his heart. Stripping off the crown
and purple robe, he wraps himself in sackcloth, and puts
ashes on his gray head. It breaks his heart. He wrings his
hands and sobs: ^'O my son Absalom, my son, my son
Absalom ! would God that I had died for thee, O Absalom,
my son, my son !" In view of the father's unspeakable grief,
it was not right for that young man to harm himself, since
the harm did not terminate in him.
That sermon changed more votes than all the speeches
that had been made. Power in preaching consists in having
an imagination that will enable you to make a scene live
before you.
I preached another sermon in Waco that I think I shall
never forget. It was an afternoon sermon, when all the
churches in the city were united. I took a double text : "I
shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." That was
the first part of the text. The other part was, "Absalom,
my son, my son, would God that I had died for thee." I con-
trasted the sorrow of David over his two children ; the sep-
aration between him and his baby was temporary; they
would soon be together forever, but the separation from
Absalom was an eternal separation. He knew his child was
lost forever, which accounts for his inconsolable grief. The
power of that sermon was in vivid stress of two things:
holding one picture up and saying, "Look at that," and
holding up the opposite picture and saying, "Look at that."
The rebellion perished with the death of Absalom, but
David was so utterly overwhelmed with his grief that he
did not follow up his victory, and really he became sinful
DEATH OF ABSALOM 235
in his grief. It took the heart out of his own people. They
became ashamed and sneaked back to town, f eeHng that their
victory was dreadful to their king. Joab, though his heart
was as hard as iron, was right in his rebuke ; but it was very
unfeelingly done, especially as he had been the one, in viola-
tion of orders, to take the life of Absalom. This is what
he said, "Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy
servants, which this day have saved thy life, and the lives
of thy sons and thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives,
and the lives of thy concubines ; in that thou lovest them
that hate thee, and hatest them that love thee. For thou hast
declared this day, that princes and servants are naught unto
thee : for this day I perceive, if Absalom had lived, and all
we had died this day, then it had pleased thee well. Now
therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy
servants; for I swear by the Lord, if thou go not forth,
there will not tarry a man with thee this night." That was
pretty straight talk, but it was successful, and it waked
David up. He was so stunned by his grief that he took no
steps to follow up his victory.
The question of his restoration came up with the people
this way : "Shall we now take the king back to his throne ?
Absalom is dead and there is no other king." And then
David made overtures to Judah, his own tribe ; he sent to
Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, saying that the tribe of
Judah was his own flesh and blood, and they had said noth-
ing about his coming back. He then made this promise:
"As the Lord God liveth I will make Amasa, Absalom's
general, commander-in-chief of my armies." It would have
been all right to dismiss Joab, but it certainly was impoHtic
to put a rebellious general at the head of his army. We will
see directly that it cost Amasa his life.
The men who stood by David and won his victory for
him felt like they were strangers here with these people who
had been against him and the enemies' general made their
236 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
commander. Whenever a strong feeling of resentment ex-
ists there will always be somebody to give voice to it, hence
the shout of Sheba: *To your tents, O Israel!" You will
hear that cry again in the days of Rehoboam, when the same
ten tribes say, 'To your tents, O Israel ! What have we in
the son of Jesse?" The tribes were always loosely held to-
gether, and it was easy for them to separate and disinte-
grate. For some reason, not stated, Amasa was very dila-
tory to take command and subdue Sheba, and David com-
mands Abishai, not Joab, to take command and pursue
Sheba until he is caught and destroyed. Joab goes along
as a volunteer, and on the way he meets Amasa whom he
thus addressed: '*Art thou in health, my brother?" And
then stabs him under the fifth rib, just as he had killed
Abner ; then he usurps command, Abishai giving way to him,
and put down the rebellion very speedily. David did not
feel strong enough to displace him again, so after that Joab
was commander-in-chief, too big a man to be put out!
In going back to Jerusalem there were several touching
things : In the first place that cursing man, Shimei, comes
out and makes submission and asks to be forgiven. David
forgives him for the present. You will see later how he
made provision for bringing him to judgment, but he for-
gave him for the present. The darkest blot on David, out-
side of the sin against Uriah, is in this paragraph, the meet-
ing with Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth comes to meet him
and David sternly asks why he had not gone out with him
when he left Jerusalem. He gently explains that he was
crippled and could not walk, and that he ordered his beast
to be saddled and his servants went off and left him ; that
he is now glad to welcome David back, and that it was a
falsehood that he ever intended to profit by David's mis-
fortunes. David then restores to him part of his property,
and lets that rascal Ziba keep half of it. In all this transac-
tion Mephibosheth comes out in a much more favorable
DEATH OF ABSALOM 237
light than David : ''Let him take it all forasmuch as my
lord, the king, has come in peace unto his own house."
This does not show off David very well. It is customary for
everybody in going over this part of the history, to speak
with great favor of old Barzillai. Everything he did was
pure disinterestedness. David offers compensation, offers
to give him a permanent home in Jerusalem. He says this
would not be a favor to him, as he is old and blind and can-
not taste anything or discriminate. Then David asks him
if there is not somebody in his house that he can promote,
and the son of old Barzillai is promoted.
We will now consider the preparation David made for the
succession to guard against any other rebellion. He wanted
the succession established in his life-time. If you are
familiar with English history you know that a nation is in
a great stir every time its king gets sick, unless it is clearly
established who shall succeed him. The question for suc-
cession was a serious one when Queen Elizabeth died, and
again at Queen Anne's death, when the kingdom was trans-
ferred to the house of Hanover. Some of the most thrill-
ing pages in history are devoted to these transition periods.
David wanted no trouble about the succession; so he as-
sembled the great convocation, consisting of princes, cap-
tains of thousands, and hundreds, etc., and caused them to
recognize Solomon as his successor, and he was so an-
nounced. Every officer in the kingdom was pre-committed
to Solomon. And yet, notwithstanding this precaution,
Adonijah, the third son prominent in history, now the old-
est, since Absalom is dead, determined that he should be
king. He adopted Absalom's expedients, prepared chariots
and men to run before him. He got Abiathar, one of the
priests, and Joab to stand with him and went off to a palace
called En-rogel and there to be announced as king. David
was too old and feeble to do anything, but the prophet Na-
than sent the mother of Solomon to him to let him know
238 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
what was impending. David took steps instantly to have
Solomon crowned king, and proclamation made. Adonijah,
when he heard that Solomon was king, returned to Jerusalem
and begged for mercy, and the rebellion was ended. This
led to the displacement of Abiathar as priest, and led to the
permanency of the high priest in the line of Zadok, who
stood firmly with David.
The crowning act of David's life, the one most profitable
in its lesson to us, was his provision for the erection of the
great temple. All the devoted treasure from Saul's wars
and his own, all the spoils of many nations subdued by him,
immense treasures of gold, silver, precious stones, precious
metal, and cloth were stored up for this purpose. Then by
revelation from God the plans and specifications of the
building and its furniture received by him were given to
Solomon, accompanied by a solemn charge to build the
house. But yet the gathered material was not sufficient for
so great an enterprise. So David at this great convocation
engineered the most remarkable public collection known to
history — the most remarkable in its method, its principles,
and in the amount raised.
Method: First of all he, himself, out of his own proper
fund, made a cash donation never equalled since, not even
by Carnegie nor Rockefeller. The princes, and then all sub-
ordinate officers, followed the lead of their rulers.
Principles: (i) It was a "prepared" donation. (2) The
preparation was "with all his might." (3) The donation
was for God's house and cause. (4) It was prompted by
"affection for God's cause." (5) It was purely voluntary.
(6) It was preceded by a "willing consecration of himself
to God." (7) It was followed by great joy because a willing
and not an extorted offering.
Amount: It staggers credulity to accept the vast total.
The total, by any fair method of calculation, goes beyond
anything else known to history. No off-hand, impulsive col-
DEATH OF ABSALOM 2S9
lection could have produced such a result. It was a long-
purposed, thoroughly prepared contribution flowing from
the highest possible motives.
Lesson: Our preachers today should lay it to heart. We
need the lesson particularly in times of financial stringency.
We see our preachers scared to death without cause, and
our people demoralized. We need the application intensely.
We should know that God is never straightened in himself —
that today, if we willingly consecrate ourselves to God first
of all, like the Phillipians who first gave themselves to the
Lord, and if we have true afifection for God's cause, and if
we purpose great things in our hearts, and prepare a collec-
tion, with all our might appealing to the voluntary prin-
ciple in the loving hearts of God's people, and ourselves have
strong faith in God who is able even to raise the dead, then
the stringency of the times will only brace us and call out
our courage. But if we are whipped inside, if we feel that
we are butting our heads against a stone wall, if we take
counsel with our fears and become timid and hesitating
moral cowards when we should be heroes, of course we will
miserably fail. We will become grasshoppers in the sight
of opposing giants, and grasshoppers in our own sight. Hard
times, difficult situations, are methods of providence to pre-
pare us. They are touchstones of character, revealing who
are weaklings and who are heroes. Go off to thyself ; shut
out the world. Shut up thyself alone with God, fight the
battle to a finish once for all in thine own heart, and then
with the sublime audacity of faith, do thy work for the
Lord.
QUESTIONS
1. Contrast Absalom and David as to character.
2. Who were chosen as commanders by Absalom and David
respectively?
3. What the touching incident at Mahanaim?
4. Give an account of the battle between David's army and
Absalom's.
240 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
5. How did David show his concern for Absalom?
6. Show in two ways how Absalom in harming himself, harmed
others.
7. Contrast David's sorrow upon the death of his infant with
that upon the death of Absalom.
8. How did the rebellion end?
9. Give Joab's rebuke, and its effect on David.
ID. How was David restored as king of the people?
11. What his mistake, and its result?
12. What touching events on David's return to Jerusalem?
13. What preparation did David make for a successor?
14. Who at once became competitor for the kingship?
15. What his method?
16. How did this episode end?
17. What the crowning act of David's life?
18. How was the provision made?
19. What the method?
20. What the principles?
21. What the amount?
22. What the lesson, and its application?
XXIV
THE ARMY; CIVIL ORGANIZATION; INTERNA-
TIONAL COMMERCE; RELIGIOUS
ORGANIZATION
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 142-148
THE scriptural materials for the life of David present
him as a great poet, and we are accustomed to think
of him in the Hght of his poetry, particularly of his
elegies and Psalms. We think of him as a great warrior
from his youth up in the successful campaigns he waged in
pushing out the boundaries of the kingdom until they ful-
filled the promise to Abraham. Then we think of him as a
legislator, as he devised many useful laws, but we seldom
give him due credit for his organizing power. A great
writer has said that what Alfred the Great did for Eng-
land, and what Napoleon did for France, David did for his
kingdom in the way of organization. I will take up the
items of this organization and give you a clear conception
of it.
I. The Army. — His army roll showed 288,000 men. It
would have been a great burden to a small kingdom like this
to keep up a standing army of 288,000 men ; so he divided
his army into twelve great corps. Only one corps would
serve a month ; in the course of the entire year the 288,000
men would have served each one of them one month. In
that way the spirit of military drill and organization was
kept up. In case of war he could call out the whole 288,000
and have a vast army of drilled men. So his army organi-
zation, we will say, consisted of 288,000 men, 12 army corps
Ml
24a THE HEBREW MONARCHY
of 24,000 each, each corps serving one month in the year,
coming on in succession. Each corps was subdivided into,
say, 24 regiments of 1,000 men each, and each regiment into
ten companies of 100 men each, something hke the "century"
of the Roman Legion, a centurion commanding 100 men.
These were the subdivisions of the main army. There was
a bodyguard always kept near the king's person. I do not
recall that anywhere the number of this bodyguard is given.
Sometimes they are called "Cherethites" and "Pelethites."
Whatever their name, it was a permanent bodyguard of
which Benaiah was the commander.
Then there was an order of men sometimes compared to
the knighthood, the 600; the original organization of this
600 was in the Cave of Adullam, when David was an out-
law, and it was perpetuated all through his life. This 600,
every one a hero and champion, was divided into two bands
of 300 each. These bands were divided into companies of
100 each, and the one hundreds were divided into twenties.
The six captains over the hundreds and the chief captain
over all make the famous seven. The captains over the
twenties make the famous thirty. Every man of this band
of 600 was an experienced warrior and had signalized him-
self on many eventful occasions, and every one of the thirty
and every one of the seven, that is, the thirty-seven officers,
were especially famous.
Let us see if we have this army organization clear:
288,000 divided into 12 corps of 24,000 each; each corps
commanded by its own general, with Joab as general-in-
chief ; each 24,000 serving one month and no more unless
there was a war. In addition to that, a bodyguard, the
famous 600; the three captains of the first 300 were the
most worthy ; the three captains of the other 300 were some-
what less worthy. Each 100 was divided into twenties ; the
captains over the twenties make the thirty worthies; then
the six captains over the one hundreds, and a chief cap-
DAVID AS AN ORGANIZER 243
tain of the 600 make the thirty-seven worthies. That is
David's military organization.
II. The Civil Organization. — The civil organization was
based upon the law of Moses. Each tribe was governed by
its prince, and by a graded system of subordinate judges,
chiefs of thousands, chiefs of hundreds, chiefs of fifties, and
chiefs of tens, and the ordinary affairs pertaining only to the
tribes were attended to by these men. That was derived
from the Mosaic administration, but in David's time we
come to quite a different need, the matters relating to God
and His kingdom. For this work David appointed 6,000
Levites as judges and he distributed them over the whole
territory. They represented the national affairs only. These
6,000 Levites had the following functions :
1. They were what we would call "federal judges" — •
judges over matters that pertained to the general govern-
ment.
2. Sanitary officers.
3. They were charged with education. There never was
such a spirit of general education as grew up in this organi-
zation of David. First of all, there were the schools of the
prophets. They were kept up and had been ever since Sam-
uel's time. In these schools of the prophets they studied
the whole law of God, and particularly music, vocal and
instrumental. They also studied everything that related to
the prophetic office. That was the curriculum of the schools
of the prophets, and that was where David got his education.
These 6,000 Levites, each one in his own section, had charge
of the educational work, and the result was that when Solo-
mon came to the throne you find him the most thoroughly
educated man since the days of Moses. Dr. Taylor, in his
"King of Israel," well says :
"The pre-eminence attained by Solomon in all the branches of
education is, to my mind, an evidence of the advanced condi-
tion of the nation generally in this department; since, unless
244 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
a good foundation of elementary knowledge had been imparted
to the youth of the land as a whole, it is hardly possible to
account for the appearance of such a man as Solomon in that
age. No doubt he was endowed with preternatural wisdom; but
this, as is usual in the economy of Providence, would be engrafted
upon a high degree of ordinary culture ; and the question forces
itself upon the historical student, 'Who were his tutors, and who
taught them?' You do not find the loftiest mountains rising iso-
latedly from some great plain. The highest mountains are never
solitary peaks. They belong usually to some great chain, and are
merely the loftiest elevations in a country the general character of
which is mountainous; and in the same way the greatest scholars
appear, not among ignorant people, but among those who have a
high average of education, and in countries where a good substratum
of instruction is enjoyed by the common average of the community.
The historian, Froude, has put this thought admirably when he
says, 'No great general ever arose out of a nation of cowards; no
great statesman or philosopher out of a nation of fools; no great
artist out of a nation of materialists; no great dramatist,^ except
when the drama was the passion of the people. Greatness is never
more than the highest degree of an excellence which prevails
around it, and forms the environment in which it grows.' Now if
these views be correct, the rise of Solomon, who was so conspicuous
for his intellectual culture and scientific attainments, may be re-
garded as a proof that in the reign of David, and more particularly,
perhaps, in the zenith of his administration, education was ex-
tensively diffused, and earnestly fostered by him among the tribes."
When we come to study Solomon, in his time, we will find
a reference to the wise men of the day. These were the
men who grew out of David's educational system. Solomon
is but the product of the educational department set up by
David. Let us now see what we have learned about these
Levites :
1. They were federal judges, passing sentence on all
matters pertaining to the nation at large.
2. They were sanitary men, looking after all matters
pertaining to the health of the people.
3. They were educational men.
4. They were the stewards of what is called the ''royal
property." We would call it now, in our government,
"revenue." By a single paragraph we are told of David's
overseers of the treasure-houses of the tribes, of the vine-
yards, of the orchards, pastures, etc., so that there must have
DAVID AS AN ORGANIZER 245
been what in England would be called "crown-lands," land
that belonged to the general government. In every tribe and
in every important place you would see a treasure-house.
Let us see what that treasure-house was for. The system
of worship provided for a central place of worship, and for
the support of those who conducted matters at the central
place of worship there was a tithe in cattle, grain, vineyards,
etc., so you see that it would be necessary to have store-
houses all over the nation where these tithes could be gath-
ered up. It took a very consummate organization to put all
these matters in such working order that there could be no
deficiency in the royal treasury from any part of the land,
nothing deficient in sanitary conditions. Nothing anywhere
escaped the Argus eyes of the judicial system of govern-
ment. Moreover, David developed —
III. An International Commerce. — This was a tremen-
dous item in the contribution to the wealth of the nation.
The kingdom produced more than it could use in the way of
clothes, and it was necessary to export surplus products and
to bring in things that could not be produced at home. You
can imagine the continuous stream of caravans from Damas-
cus to Egypt and from Tyre to Arabia, across the country.
It would be necessary to carry to foreign countries various
kinds of produce in exchange for the things brought to
David from them. In Solomon's time you will see an en-
largement of this commerce. He not only reached the
Atlantic Ocean, as in David's time, through the fleets of
Tyre, but China and India by means of the fleet at Ezion-
geber on the Gulf of Akabah. David would want cedars
from Lebanon, and would want to employ skilled artisans
and architects. David was a great builder. He built a fine
palace for himself, and he built many fine buildings in
Jerusalem. In paying for these artisans, architects and
materials from foreign countries he would use the surplus
products of his own kingdom, carrying from Judah to Tyre
246 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
by caravan, to Damascus by caravan, to Egypt, to Arabia.
This necessitated treasure-houses and storehouses, and
David had them by his system of organization.
IV. The Religious Organization. — The reHgious organi-
zation surpassed anything that this world has ever known.
At no time in the history of the world, in any nation, was
there ever such a perfect organization of religious service.
After David was made king of all Israel at Hebron, where
he had been reigning over Judah seven years, he captured
Jerusalem and made that the central place of worship, and
there the great feasts were celebrated. He is going to have
a system of worship that will not only impress the minds
of his own people, but all people who come in touch with
them, so that in the days of the captivity the Babylonians
would say, *'Sing us one of the songs of Zion," and they
would reply, "How can we sing the songs of Zion in a
strange land?" and would hang their harps on the willow
trees.
There were 38,CX)0 Levites over thirty years of age in this
religious organization, 6,000 of whom were set apart for
judges, sanitary officers and educators, leaving 32,000 for
the temple service. These 32,000 men were divided as fol-
lows: 24,000 into 24 courses of 1,000 each, set apart to
minister at the sanctuary ; in other words to be servants of
the priests for anything the priests would want done ; 4,000
set apart as porters ; and 4,000 as singers. The priests, that
is, the sons of Aaron, were classified into 24 courses. This
classification continued until the New Testament time. Zach-
arias, the father of John the Baptist, belonged to the course
of Abia, and when it came his turn to go and act as priest
in the temple, it was determined by lot, and the lot fell upon
him to offer incense as priest. The priests were divided
into 24 courses, and the singers divided. There were 24
bands of these singers, not all present at one time, but all
could be grouped at national festivals, when the Passover
DAVID AS AN ORGANIZER Ul
came, or Feast of Tabernacles, or Pentecost, or the great
Day of Atonement; then the entire 4,000 singers would be
there with their various instruments of music; the cymbal-
band, the psaltery-band, the harp-band, the trumpet-band,
Alamoth, or female choir, Sheminith, or male choir — every-
body in that 4,000 would understand just what services were
requisite on his part, and just when. One twenty-fourth of
the time he had to be there, and on all national occasions
he had to be there. Offerings had to be made every day,
morning and evening, and when you take into consideration
the Sabbatic cycle, which consisted of the weekly Sabbath,
every seventh day ; the new-moon Sabbath, every lunar
month; the annual Sabbaths, the Passover, Tabernacle, or
Pentecost festivals; the land Sabbath, all of every seventh
year; the jubilee Sabbath, every fiftieth year, each and all
with its appropriate and imposing ritual, you get some idea
of David's religious system.
When we come to study the book of Psalms, one of the
most attractive books in the whole Bible, we will there find
that the service of the second temple was based upon David's
plan, and led to our present arrangement of the Psalms. No
writer has yet, with sufficient vividness, described the wor-
ship at Jerusalem in the Old Testament times. Rev. J. H.
Ingraham, the Episcopalian, who committed suicide, at-
tempted to describe it in letters that a daughter of an Egyp-
tian Jew wrote to her father about how the temple service
impressed her in the time of Christ. These letters are found
in his "Prince of the House of David.'*
That was the religious organization. One living in any
part of the country, from Hamath on the northwest to the
Euphrates on the northeast, to Edom on the southeast, to
Philistia on the southwest, and a case coming up, there was
an appropriate officer to whom his case would be referred;
everything was arranged for — judicial, executive and legis-
lative. Some things were attended to in the national con-
24^8 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
ventlon. This occurred when the great festivals brought
the people together in the grand convocation, or when some-
thing of special importance was to be done with reference
to succession, as we saw when David called the whole nation
to accept his son Solomon as king.
QUESTIONS
1. In what spheres was David great?
2. Describe his army organization: (i) How many enrolled?
(2) How divided, and why? (3) What the subdivisions?
3. Describe David's body-guard. Who the commander? _ ^ ,
4. Describe the organization of his famous 600; (i) Its divi-
sions; (2) Its subdivisions; (3) Who the famous zj"^
5. Describe the civil organization: (i) What part derived from
the Mosaic administration? (2) What additions in David's time?
(3) What the functions of the 6,000 Levites? (4) What proof,
of the diffusion of education by David? (5) What was the treas-J
urehouse? - ■ c * 1
6. Describe his system of International commerce :, ^( i ); itsj
necessity; (2) How carried on? _ _ ,._
7. Describe his religious organization: (i) How does it com-^
pare with the other religious organizations of the world? (2).
How many and who constituted it? (3) Its divisions and sub-^
divisions? (4) Its relation to the book of the Psalms?
XXV
BOOKS ON THE REIGN OF SOLOMON; THE
EMPIRE OF SOLOMON ; SOLOMON'S INHER-
ITANCE FROM HIS FATHER
Scriptures: References in Harmony, p. 164
WE will begin on the reign of Solomon at page 164 of
the Harmony.
First of all I will give you a Hst of the books
obtainable by you on the reign of Solomon. Your Bible
text of the reign of Solomon includes the first eleven chap-
ters of I Kings and the first nine chapters of II Chronicles —
twenty chapters in all. These twenty chapters cover the
reign of Solomon.
Josephus comes next. I am naming books for students
of the English Bible, not of the Hebrew Bible. The perti-
nent parts of Josephus are chapters 14 and 15 of the Seventh
Book of Antiquities, and the first seven chapters of the
Eighth Book, i.e., nine chapters of Josephus. You can read
those nine chapters of Josephus at one sitting.
The next book I commend very highly on account of the
simplicity of it (anybody can understand it), and also on
account of the soundness and great scholarship of the
author. It is Edersheim's "History of Israel," Volume V.
In the fifth volume some of the chapters are devoted to the
reign of Solomon. Anyone at one sitting ought to be able to
carefully read over everything that Edersheim has to say
on Solomon's reign.
The next book, the author of which is also a great scholar
and a very celebrated man, but not so sound in the faith as
U9
250 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
Edersheim, is Stanley's ''Jewish Church/* There are three
volumes, but only some chapters of the second volume treat
of the reign of Solomon.
The next book is also one of great scholarship and re-
search, though its author is more of a radical critic than
Stanley, and that is Geikie's "Hours with the Bible." There
are about eight volumes of that book, but you only want
that part on Solomon's reign, a part of the third volume.
It is better than either of the others in showing the political
relation of Solomon's kingdom to the other kingdoms of
the world. It is superb on that.
The next book, by Canon Farrar, *The Life and Times of
Solomon," is one of a series of books on the great Old Tes-
tament characters. On the Old Testament Farrar is decid-
edly a radical critic. He is better on the New Testament.
The ''Bible Atlas" comes next, which every Bible student
and Sunday school teacher ought to have. It is studied in
Biblical introduction. Geography must precede history. In
this book, pages 69-71, is all you need to consider on the
reign of Solomon. It gives you several maps, then it gives
you some comparative maps showing relative sizes. What it
has to say in a historical way is very fine. You need it all
the way through the study of the Bible, for it touches the
whole history.
Some Remarks on Kings and Chronicles. — The two books
of Kings are, in the Hebrew, one book. The division took
place when the Septuagint translation was made. This book
of Kings covers more than four and one-half centuries, i.e.,
say from 1000 B.C. to about 585 B.C. Its original material
was written by the contemporary prophets of Israel. Some
prophet would write the annals of the kings during his time.
The names of these prophets are Nathan, Ahijah, Iddo,
Isaiah and Jeremiah. Therefore when the Old Testament is
divided into three parts — Law, Prophets and Psalms — Sam-
uel and Kings are always included in the Prophets because
THE EMPIRE OF SOLOMON 251
the author of the book was a prophet, and because the his-
tory itself is prophetic.
The reign of every king of Judah or of Israel later, when
the division took place, had its own annalist, and these an-
nalists or historians were prophets. In this book reference
is made to a book called the ''Acts of Solomon," and from
a passage in II Chronicles we infer that it was written by
three prophets — Nathan, Ahijah and Iddo. Sixteen times
in the book of Kings there is reference to the Chronicles
of the kings of Judah. Of course one man did not write
all of those chronicles, but each prophet would write the
chronicles of his day. There are many references also to
the chronicles of the kings of Israel. Our book of Chronicles
is a compilation from these original sources, probably by
Ezra.
Another remark on the book of Kings : Not only were its
authors prophets, but the history was written from a pro-
phetic point of view. The history of Israel is itself a
prophecy. Our book of Chronicles is also unique. It is a
post-exile compilation, i.e., after the return of the Jews from
the Babylonian captivity, and therefore it has nothing to
say about the ten tribes that went off with Jeroboam ; it dis-
cusses only Judah. This book commences with Adam and
comes down to Ezra's time, on one line of Messianic thought
— just one. While we use the material of the book of
Chronicles in this Harmony, yet no man can understand
the book of Chronicles except by independent study. It
must be considered as the historical basis of the new pro-
bation after the exile, connecting with Ezra, Nehemiah, Dan-
iel and Esther, and also with the later prophets — Ezekiel,
Zechariah, Haggai, and Malachi. Suppose that there was no
Bible at all up to I Chronicles ; now that book is written so
as to reach back to the Creation — to Adam — and furnishes,
as I said, the historic basis of the probation of the Jewish
people after their return from exile. Confining itself to the
^52 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
Davidic line and to Judah, it comes on down to the troublous
times of the restoration. Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther com-
plete the story.
I discuss somewhat the empire of Solomon. A good map
will show that the section conquered by Joshua was small
compared with this empire of Solomon. The kingdom of
Saul was a very small section, but by the conquests of David
the boundary of the empire touched the Euphrates, which
river was the boundary for a number of miles. Then the
boundary came across to the Orontes River flowing north.
Then it came down the eastern slope of the Lebanon Moun-
tains, leaving a narrow strip next the Mediterranean Sea —
Phoenicia — which was not a part of Solomon's kingdom, but
was under an independent government — Hiram, King of
Tyre. From the lower part of Phoenicia the boundary fol-
lowed the Mediterranean Sea until it came to the River of
Egypt. The River of Egypt means one of the branches of
the Nile, and that part of the territory David never con-
quered, but Solomon got it by dowry when he married
Pharaoh's daughter. The boundary then strikes across from
the River of Egypt to the upper part of the Red Sea, the
Gulf of Akabah, at a point called Ezion-geber. That was
the seaport through which Solomon's navy reached the
Indian Ocean, and the countries of the Orient, as through
the seaport of Tyre he reached all the countries on the Med-
iterranean Sea and even around as far as Britain and Nor-
way — all around the shore of the Baltic Sea. This empire
of Solomon is ten times as big as the kingdom of Saul. Con-
sider the difference between 6,000 square miles and 60,000
square miles. You will notice that the eastern boundary
of the empire touched the impassable desert at every point
of the line. So with the great sea on the west and the desert
on the east, there is only a narrow northern boundary and
a narrow southern boundary to be safeguarded. You will
observe that this empire as established by David and reigned
THE EMPIRE OF SOLOMON 253
over by Solomon was for the first time and the last time the
greatest Oriental kingdom. There was no contemporaneous
Oriental kingdom or empire equal to Solomon's. I am not
referring to extent of territory, but to authority, power and
rule. The reason is that Egypt has been greatly weakened,
and just about Solomon's time an entirely new dynasty
comes in with which he intermarries, thus insuring perfect
friendship on the south. Then it came at a time before the
later Assyria and Babylonia have been established. The old
Assyria and Babylonia at this juncture amounted to noth-
ing, and Syria had become a part of Solomon's empire.
Through alliances with Phcenicia, which was the great sea
power of the world at that date, and Egypt, there was no
Oriental government that could compete with the empire
of Solomon.
It exactly fulfilled the promise that God made to Abra-
ham as reported in Genesis 15. Just what God promised
to Abraham as to the extent of the territory is fulfilled for
the first time in David, and remains so throughout the reign
of Solomon — but never again. Then it exactly fulfills the
prophecy written, as I am sure, by David himself, though
attributed to Solomon, contained in Psalm 72. There the
extent of his reign is set forth prophetically, as it is also
set forth in the great promise made in Sam. 7. The promise
in Sam. 7 occasioned the Psalm, and in its higher meaning
is to be fulfilled in David's greatest Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, when the empire shall be the world, as told us in
the book of Revelation.
Now consider briefly the relation of Solomon's empire
with outside nations. There is no chance for internal dis-
turbance after Philistia, Syria, Ammon, Moab and Edom
have been conquered by David, but consider the relation of
this empire with other foreign countries. First of all, in
influence and importance is Phoenicia — just a narrow strip
of palm beach on the Mediterranean Sea, with the great
g54f THE HEBREW MONARCHY
mountains of Lebanon back of it, much like the Pacific slope
in California, which is a very narrow slope with the Rocky
Mountains back of it, and very much like the same Pacific
slope in South America with the Andes back of it. The
relation between Phoenicia and this empire was first estab-
lished by David. Hiram, the king of Tyre, made a treaty
with David just after David captured Jerusalem— a treaty,
the favors of which were all on one side, i.e., David got the
favors. In other words, by virtue of the alliance made be-
tween Hiram and David, David got access to the vast
timber-lands on the Lebanon Mountains, the finest timber
accessible to the then known world. He also got access to
the quarries there. You will understand why Hiram would
want to make an alliance with David if you will consider
that when David captured all this country up to the River
Euphrates and down to the River of Egypt he controlled
every artery of land-commerce upon which Phoenicia de-
pended. It is difficult to realize the amount of travel and
traffic coming down from the Euphrates by Damascus and
then to Tyre, and from Tyre distributed to all the Mediter-
ranean nations clear around to the Baltic Sea. Then the
other line of trade was from the same Euphrates — the
caravan ways to Egypt. They would follow either side of
the Jordan. From southern Judea there were three ways
into Egypt — one from Philistia following the Mediterranean
coast line, one through the middle of the desert, and the
one that Moses followed when he led the people out of
Egypt. Now, as Tyre had little territory and was depend-
ent upon its commerce, if a foreign hostile nation controlled
all of the arteries on the land side, it would break up the
commerce on the sea side, for they would have nothing to
transport for exchange. This alliance was of incalculable
value both to Phoenicia and to the empire of Solomon. The
one as a sea power controlled the outlet ; the other as a
land power controlled the inlet. While Solomon's had a
THE EMPIRE OF SOLOMON 255
Mediterranean coast line there were no good seaports on
it. Phoenicia was a great commercial country centering in
Solomon's time at Tyre. If you want to understand some-
thing of the nature of that commerce read Ezek. 2'j on Tyre.
It is the most vivid description of a commercial nation in the
literature of the world. It describes Tyre as a ship of state,
showing from what country she drew its products and its
mercenaries, and you will find that all of Asia and the
northern part of Africa, all the southern part of Europe,
all of the islands on the eastern shores of Europe, the Brit-
ish Isles, for instance, are mentioned in that description of
the commerce of Phoenicia.
I made a speech once before the Y. M. C. A. in Waco on
"The shipwreck of faith." Faith was described — its errors,
in various ways. My part of it was to describe the ship-
wreck of faith. I got my imagery of the shipwreck from
Ezekiel's description of the shipwreck of Tyre's ship of
state. It is more interesting than any novel — the account
of the commerce outgoing from this city — Tyre. It retained
its great splendor and magnificence down to the time of
Alexander the Great, who conquered it. The empire of
Solomon had another relation to Phoenicia which I will dis-
cuss at a later time.
We take up now the relation of Egypt to Solomon's
empire. Solomon controlled all of the continental trade
that reached Egypt because it had to come entirely through
the whole length of the territory of Solomon. It was neces-
sary therefore for a good understanding to prevail between
the Holy Land and Egypt, and it is the first good under-
standing since Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, and as
that relation was on account of a new dynasty coming in,
so this relation is on account of an entirely new dynasty
coming to the front in Egypt. In the later history of Israel
you will find that Egypt, Phoenicia, and Babylonia on the
Euphrates, and Nineveh, had much to do with this country
256 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
in a hostile way. The advantages of the relations are with
Israel only so long as it is the greater .power. The touch
of the empire with Oriental nations is its Euphrates border.
There is no great nation at this time on the Tigris or the
Euphrates to disturb Israel. The great nations there are
coming but they are not, as yet.
"Solomon" means "prince of peace." His reign was a
reign of peace — peace with Egypt, peace with Phoenicia,
peace with the Oriental nations beyond the Euphrates, and
peace with Arabia. Solomon renewed the alliance with
Hiram, king of Tyre, and rather cheated him in a trade,
very much to Hiram's disgust. That we will learn about a
little later. Solomon, partly from political motives, married
women of many foreign countries. Thus he secured the
southern boundary by marrying the daughter of Pharaoh.
He was a "very much married" man.
Let us consider a little more particularly the commerce in
Solomon's day. As I told you, his part of the Mediterra-
nean coast furnished very small means for great commerce,
because it had no good seaports, and his country, up to
David's time, never touched any ocean or great sea in any
other direction, but now it touched the Red Sea. Tyre
becomes the servant of Solomon in reaching the whole
world through the Mediterranean Sea. Then Solomon built
a navy with the help of the Tyrian sailors at Ezion-geber
down on the Gulf of Akabah. We have an account of a
visit he made to that place to see how his ships were coming
along. He built a navy there, and through that navy he
touched all the East Indies and the nations of the Pacific,
all the archipelagoes of the Indian and Pacific Oceans along
the eastern and southern shores of Asia. We will come
to some interesting accounts of this navy in the history, and
of what those ships brought to him.
The land commerce I have described, on the way from
the Euphrates to Egypt, and on the same way from the
THE EMPIRE OF SOLOMON 257
Euphrates to Tyre. It was a period of activity and travel,
in commerce, in trade, in manufacture. It was a live world
in Solomon's time.
Our next question by way of introduction is what Solo-
mon inherited from his father. I will give you a summary
to show how much Solomon was indebted to his father.
Some boys are very fortunate in the father providing for
them. In the first place, he is entirely indebted to David
for this big territory. He didn't acquire it, but it cost
David many a hard, bitter war ; many a dreadful fight. On
the maps in the "Bible Atlas" you will see where a number
of these great battles were fought in David's time, so that
Solomon inherited his estate. The only part he added was
the little strip of land next to Egypt that came with his mar-
riage with the daughter of the king of Egypt as a dowry,
and it didn't hang on any longer than the wife did. The
next thing inherited from his father was a united kingdom.
He had nothing to do with that. David united the jealous
warring tribes. We saw in the history of Joshua their inter-
tribal differences, how their dissensions appear all through
the book of Judges, all through the book of Samuel, and all
through David's life until he was crowned king of all Israel.
The third thing of incalculable value that he inherited from
David was organization. That organization reached to every
department — say, first, the army. David's military system
must have been the seed idea of the present German military
system. I don't see where else they got their method of
organizing their army on such a large scale except from the
account of David's military organization. In the next place,
the revenue was organized. Up to David's time there was
no revenue system or army. There was a big militia, but
very unreliable. David organized both to a nicety, so that
from every part of this country the stream of revenue con-
tinually flowed into his treasury without intermission.
The next point of organization was religion. From
258 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
Joshua's time to David's time the religious movements v^ere
on tangential lines. There was no long-settled place to wor-
ship; there was no general system of worship; there were
no well-settled officers of worship and no adequate ritual.
David organized it all. He had his central place of wor-
ship; he had his priests divided into twenty-four courses.
He had his Levites all organized. He had the ritual of
worship established, and he wrote the songs for the entire
convocation of Israel. The greater part of the Psalter was
written by David. The times of worship were also sys-
tematized.
From David's time comes also a thoroughly trained pro-
phetic class. Samuel started it when he established three
or four seminaries. From that time on until prophecy in
Old Testament times ceased, there was a live prophetic
school of men who represented God and spoke to the con-
sciences of kings and of the nation. A corps of these great
prophets are turned over to Solomon and work with him.
Among them were Nathan, Iddo and Ahijah, and in later
reigns many others.
Solomon also inherited an organized educational system
with these prophets from David. No intelligent mind can
account for Solomon's training and attainments except upon
the pre-supposition of a system of public instruction by
prophets and priests. His attainments did not come by
instinct or revelation. He had gifts, indeed, but when you
read the history of Solomon you see the cultivation of the
gifts. David's system of public instruction accounts for
Solomon. Through the prophets, particularly Nathan, came
the fine education with which this man Solomon started in
life. Then he inherited from David this alliance with Phoe-
nicia. Moreover, he inherited from David treasures that
stagger credulity in magnitude and variety — spoils of all
the great wars, gold and silver and jewels of the world.
Commentators are tempted to change the Hebrew texts
THE EMPIRE OF SOLOMON 259
when they come to express the amount of the treasures that
David accumulated. Everything that would be useful in
the great work assigned to Solomon was ready to his hand.
He inherited from his father even the plans as well as the
material of the temple, which is the greatest thing Solomon
ever did — the building of that house. All of its magnitude
and the entire plan of it, with minute directions, came down
to Solomon from David. The boy had only to reach to his
desk and take out complete plans of what he had to do, as
a king, and minute directions as to how everything was to
be done; the place from which the material was to come,
and last of all, the very labor that was to perform the work
was organized on a scale that hadn't been equalled since the
pyramids of Egypt were built. Now that starts the boy off
right well.
Then his father had him installed into office before his
own death to prevent any jar in the succession, and had the
public men committed to him. The great leaders of Israel
in all this great territory were assembled by David and
pledged to support Solomon as his successor, and they did
commit themselves by oath to his support. Now if the
plans and the money and the material for the house and
for all his other work, if the alHance and co-operation of
other nations, if the organization of his own nation, came
from his father, surely he was the heir to an immense inher-
itance. Not many of us started off that way. The most of
us had to scratch right at the start.
The next thing we inquire is, *'What did he derive from
God?" Of course indirectly all these came from God, but
directly from God was first that divine providence which,
at this time, brought in a new and friendly dynasty in
Egypt, that weakened the Oriental nations so that none
of them could be equal in power to Solomon. All this came
from God's providence. Then the direct gift of wisdom.
It was from God. He didn't earn it, and he didn't learn
^60 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
it in school. He got knowledge in school: "Knowledge
comes, but wisdom lingers." But he got wisdom from
God. How remarkable that wisdom was we will see in a
succeeding chapter.
A new era had dawned on Solomon's people. Heretofore
they had lived a very simple life, having little contact with
other nations and wishing to have none. Now they are
brought in touch with the luxuries of the world through
Pharaoh and Hiram. The whole country is on a boom,
just such a boom as perhaps was never equalled in after
times. Silver and gold become as common as pebbles along
the bank of a brook. Agriculture, commerce, architecture,
with all the arts and sciences, have quickened and broad-
ened the national life, but with prosperity, commerce and
international touch comes danger to religious life. We will
see if national alliances and inter-marriages corrupt the pure
worship of Jehovah. We will see if the Egyptian and Phoe-
nician gods, with all their cruel and sensual worship, do
not invade the Holy Land and prepare the way for the
loss of God's favor, the dismembering of the great empire,
and its final destruction.
If through the introduction of the false religions of these
nations brought into contact with Israel through political
and commercial relations, the true, pure religion of God is
driven out, then it would have been better if Solomon had
been like David in his early days, a poor boy, supporting
himself by herding sheep.
The divisions are: i. The beginning of his reign. 2.
The wisdom of Solomon. 3. The glory of Solomon. 4.
The fall of Solomon.
QUESTIONS
1. What books commended on the reign of Solomon?
2. Who wrote the original material for Kings and Chronicles?
3. Who, probably, compiled our book of Chronicles? (2) What
its viewpoint? (3) Its purpose?
THE EMPIRE OF SOLOMON 261
4. Give boundaries of Solomon's empire. How does it com-
pare with Joshua's territory, with Saul's, and with David's?
5. What promise is fulfilled in this empire, and what prophecy
is also fulfilled in it?
6. What the relation of Solomon's empire with Phoenicia?
7. What the relation of his empire with Egypt?
8. What the relation of his empire with Oriental nations?
9. Describe the commerce in Solomon's day.
10. What did Solomon inherit from his father?
11. What did he inherit from God?
12. Describe the new era for Solomon's people, and its effect on
their religion.
XXVI
SOLOMON'S ACCESSION, MARRIAGE, DREAM
AND REMARKABLE WISDOM
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 164-168
THIS discussion commences the exposition of Solo-
mon's reign. It will be well for you to have your
book open. If you have no Harmony, open your
Bible at I Kings 2.
The first eleven chapters in the first book of Kings and
the first nine chapters in the second book of Chronicles con-
stitute the scriptural basis of the life of Solomon. We
introduce this discussion with three passages of scripture:
I. Deut. 17: 14-20:
"When thou art come unto the land which Jehoyah thy God giveth
thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say,
I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about
me; thou shalt surely set him king over thee, whom Jehovah thy
God shall choose : one from among thy brethren shalt thou set
king over thee; thou mayest not put a foreigner over thee, who is
not thy brother. Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor
cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply
horses; forasmuch as Jehovah hath said unto you, Ye shall hence-
forth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to
himself, that his heart turn not away; neither shall he greatly multi-
ply to himself silver and gold. And it shall be, when he sitteth upon
the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this
law in a book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites :
and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of
his life; that he may learn to fear Jehovah his God: to keep all
the words of this law and these statutes, to do them ; that his heart
be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from
the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that
he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the
midst of Israel."
262
SOLOMON'S ACCESSION AND DREAM S63
On that law mark the method of succession in the Hebrew
monarchy. It was not according to the law of primogeni-
ture, i.e., the oldest son does not by law succeed his father.
Indeed, we find that it is not according to heredity in a still
larger sense. God changed the dynasty from Saul to David.
Saul's sons did not succeed him, but He created a new
dynasty in David. When we come to study the divided
kingdom we will notice quite a number of dynastic changes.
But all the time in Judah the king is at least a descendant
of David. The dynasty does not change in that kingdom.
We have already seen the law of primogeniture set aside in
God's dealing with families. For instance, Isaac and not
Ishmael becomes the head of the family, and Jacob and
not Esau, and we see it extending even to the tribes. Not
Reuben, who is unstable, but Judah, became the head of the
tribes. Get before you clearly the kind of monarchy estab-
lished. The king must not be a foreigner, like Herod the
Idumean in Christ's time. He must be one of the brethren,
and then God must select him. A copy of the Pentateuch
must be made especially for him and kept by him, in which
he must read every day of his life and live and rule accord-
ing to its teaching. The Pentateuch is the national consti-
tution. And particularly, he is not to seek honor and riches
for himself, and not to seek horses with a view of any return
to Egypt, nor must he multiply wives to himself lest through
his wives his heart be turned aside from God.
2. I Chron. 22 : 9, 10. Here is God's selection of David's
successor : "Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall
be a man of rest ; and I will give him rest from all his ene-
mies round about; for his name shall be Solomon, and I
will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days: he
shall build a house for my name ; and he shall be my son,
and I will be his father ; and I will establish the throne of
his kingdom over Israel forever." So you see there that
God, before this child is born, elects David's successor and
264 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
gives his name. "Solomon" is the God-given name. He is
also called Jedediah and Lemuel. But God gave him the
name of Solomon.
3. Psalm 'J2 is too long for me to quote, but you should
read it and count it next in thought in the discussion. It
is David's prayer for this son, v^^ho succeeds him. The
superscription says, "A psalm of Solomon," but that is not
true. Solomon never wrote Psalm 72, but David did. The
subscription says, "The prayers of David, the son of Jesse,
are ended." David prays that God may give the king judg-
ment and righteousness in order that he may properly judge
the poor, and save the needy, and break in pieces the op-
pressor. And he goes on to describe that he shall have
dominion from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends
of the earth, and hov^ the kings of the earth shall bring their
gifts. Verse 17 says,
**His name shall endure forever;
His name shall be continued as long as the sun:
And men shall be blessed in him;
All nations shall call him happy."
It closes with "Let the whole earth be filled with his
glory." The primary reference is to Solomon. It is more
largely fulfilled in the antitype of Solomon, the true Prince
of Peace — ^Jesus. Consider that law, that divine election
and that prayer of. the old father just as he is passing
away, and you have not only the name of Solomon and the
character of his reign as a reign of peace, but you have
also the prophetic element in Solomon and in Solomon's
reign looking forward to Christ.
Our text declares that Solomon was thoroughly estab-
lished upon the throne of his father David. Solomon was
quite a young man, and said to be wonderfully handsome
and attractive. His establishment consisted first in the
removal of inherited enemies, those that came to him from
David's side, who might have disturbed his kingdom. The
SOLOMON'S ACCESSION AND DREAM 265
first one of these enemies is his oldest brother, Adonijah.
Adonijah thought that because he was the oldest son living
after Absalom's death, he ought to have the kingdom, and
he prepared, as we learn in the history of David, to seize
the kingdom, and as David was supposed to be in a dying
condition he set up his claim, which was forestalled by
David's having Solomon crowned king. Adonijah was for-
given for that offense, but the record tells us of a new
offense. He comes to the mother of Solomon. People
oftentimes try to reach those whom they wish to influence
through the female members of the family, either the
mother, the wife, the sister or the daughter. The devil tried
to get Adam that way — and got there. Adonijah comes
to the mother of Solomon and asks her to obtain the king's
permission that he may marry that beautiful young girl
taken into David's home and bed in his old age. The ordi-
nary reader sees this as only an innocent request, but you
must consider the Oriental custom. The successor of the
king took possession of the harem of the preceding king.
It is that way now in northern Africa, in Turkey and in
other countries. Absalom, you remember, did that in order
to certify his claim to succeed his father. The context
suggests that Joab was privy to Adonijah's request. It
means that though pardoned for the first rebellion, they
were still contemplating giving an object lesson before the
people that Adonijah was entitled to be king. Solomon
understood it in one moment, and commanded Adonijah to
be put to death.
That removed all the cause of rebellion in the family. As
soon as Joab heard of it, as a proof that he was a party in
the matter, he ran to the altar and in accordance with what
is called the "law of the sanctuary," took hold of the horns
of the altar. Now comes a general library question: Find
the law of the sanctuary touching the horns of the altar in
the book of Exodus, and state whether Solomon violated
266 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
the law of the sanctuary in having Joab put to death while
clinging to them. It is a custom, not merely of infidels but
of semi-infidel preachers, to charge Solomon with having
violated the law of the sanctuary in putting a man to death
while clinging to its horns.
Joab was put to death. He was a mighty man. There
was no general of his age equal to him. Cromwell resembled
him more than any man of modem times, in sternness of
character, in quickness of decision and action. He was a
nephew of David. David's sister, Zeruiah, had three notable
sons, all mighty men — ^Joab, Abishai and Asahel. David
was put to shame more than once in his life through Joab,
and on several occasions Joab was greater than the throne.
Two of the crimes committed by him — ^the killing of Amasa
and Abner — are punished in this death of Joab. It was on
David's conscience before he died that he had permitted
this man to live. He had been of great service to David,
and it did not seem appropriate that David should, even
though justly, put to death one who had been so efficient
in establishing him in his kingdom, and yet it was not right
that this great man in his ill-doing should go unpunished,
and so David bequeathed the solution to Solomon; in his
wisdom he must find a way to punish Joab for his past
misdeeds. Thus we come to the death of this great man
Joab.
It was prophesied that not a man should be left of the
house of EH, the usurping high priest before Samuel, and
yet in spite of that prophecy we see Abiathar come to
David and join him in the days of his exile and act as high
priest, but now this Abiathar who did not follow Absalom,
but who did follow Adonijah, and was in the conspiracy
to defer the installation of Solomon and his kingdom, is
degraded from the priesthood. Because of the friendship
he had shown to David he is not put to death, but a con-
spirer endangers the safety of a monarch and he is sent to
SOLOMON'S ACCESSION AND DREAM 267
his own home to Hve as a common man. He occupies office
no more, which disposes of that enemy.
It becomes necessary, having disposed of these two ene-
mies, to appoint successors to their great offices. The man
after whom I was named, Benaiah, or as we spell it now,
Benajah, was appointed to Joab's office, and Zadok, a true
lineal descendant of Aaron through his eldest son, is put at
the head of the priesthood. This fulfills a prophecy that
we considered in the book of Numbers. You remember
Phinehas, concerning whom one of the three remarkable
declarations on imputed righteousness in the Bible is made.
It was prophesied that the descendants of Phinehas should
occupy the high priesthood. That is fulfilled now for the
first time when Zadok becomes the high-priest of united
Israel.
The internal matters all now having been composed, this
young man, as young men generally do, proposed to marry.
He selected a wife for political reasons. He married the
daughter of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Here a general ques-
tion: Was the marriage of Solomon to the daughter of
Pharaoh a violation of the law not to inter-marry with the
people around? Form your own judgment. Some of his
marriages we know were violations. He married women
that were Edomites and Hittites. The Edomites were kin
to him, descendants of Esau, but the Hittite was one of the
old Canaanitish nations. He married women from every
direction, and largely for pohtical reasons. Touching his
first marriage we have Psalm 45. Primarily it refers to
the consummation of this marriage. Prophetically it refers
to the marriage of our Lord, the true Solomon, with His
glorified church. Let us look at some of the references in
that Psalm.
"My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter;
I speak the things which I have made touching the king;
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
268 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
Thou art fairer than the children of men;
Grace is poured into thy lips :
Therefore God hath blessed thee forever.
Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty one,
Thy glory and thy majesty."
Another part refers to the Bride :
"Kings' daughters are among thy honorable women:
At thy right hand doth stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear;
Forget also thine own people, and thy father's house:
So will the king desire thy beauty;
For he is thy lord ; and reverence thou him, _
And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift;
The rich among the people shall entreat thy favor.
The king's daughter within the palace is all glorious:
Her clothing is inwrought with gold.
She shall be led unto the king in broidered work:
The virgins her companions that follow her
Shall be brought unto thee.
With gladness and rejoicing shall they be led:
They shall enter into the king's palace.
Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children,
Whom thou shalt make princes in all the earth.
I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations :
Therefore shall the peoples give thee thanks for ever and ever."
Now we have the king presented to us as a puzzled wor-
shipper. That is to say, there was in Jerusalem the Ark of
the Covenant, in a special tent made for it by David; but
there was at Gibeon the old tabernacle that Moses built and
also the great brazen altar that Moses had made. Both
were places of worship. Solomon determines to have, as a
fitting introduction to his reign in which all people shall
participate, the most imposing and magnificent religious
service known in the world up to that time, and he proposes
to have it at both places, first at Gibeon and then before the
Ark of the Covenant at Jerusalem. The old law required
only one place of sacrifice. Solomon and others before him
might claim that the law was to become operative only after
the nation was thoroughly established. Our text says that
as a house for God had not yet been built, the people wor-
shiped in high places. All through the books of Judges and
SOLOMON'S ACCESSION AND DREAM 269
I Samuel, including all the life of David, we see worship
occasionally offered at other places than one central place,
and particularly was this so after the Philistines had cap-
tured the Ark and carried it away. So Solomon determines
to hold his first service in the old tent that Moses made, and
where the old brazen altar was, and then he would come
back to Jerusalem and hold a duplicate service before the
Ark of the Covenant in the place where David had put it.
In order that this service might be truly national, he sends
out a summons to every part of his empire that all the
princes and chief men of the nation should come together
and participate in this national offering. The record in
speaking of it says that he offered a thousand burnt offer-
ings. In the history of Xerxes, the king of Persia, when
he was on his way to invade Greece and had come to the
Hellespont, he offered a sacrifice of one thousand oxen to
the gods. This says, *'And Solomon went up thither to the
brazen altar before the Lord, which was at the tent of
meeting, and offered a thousand burnt offerings upon it."
That is a parallel in history.
After this imposing ceremony Solomon slept, and sleep-
ing, dreamed. More than once the Bible tells us that the
most of dreams have no significance, but it also teaches us
that in a number of special cases God makes His revela-
tions through dreams ; for example, the cases of Jacob,
Joseph and Nebuchadnezzar. Solomon's dream was per-
haps suggested by his father's exhortations (See Proverbs
4:3-7) and his own impressions at this great gathering.
For the first time in his reign he saw a national assembly,
the great convocation of Israel. What a mighty people!
What vast and varied interests! How complicated the
problems of administration ! How great the responsibility
on him! He seemed to be appalled at the situation, and
was asking himself how he, a boy, could meet it. Thinking
thus he fell asleep, and in his sleep came this dream :
270 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
"In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night:
and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said (and
I do wish we could always have him as presented here), Thou hast
showed unto thy servant David my father great kindness, according
as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in up-
rightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this
great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne,
as it is this day._ And now, O Jevohah my God, thou hast made
thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little
child; I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is
in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people,
that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give thy
servant therefore an understanding heart to judge thy people, that
I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this
thy great people?"
It is impossible for any candid mind to read that with-
out being impressed by it. Let me assure you that who-
ever, on the threshold of any great enterprise, is without
the spirit of true humility, is certain to fail. One of the
best forecasts of success is that he sees the magnitude and
difficulty of the work and realizes his own personal insuffi-
ciency and his entire dependence upon the divine help.
Would that all of us had that spirit all the time! There is
this thing about it : Whenever you lose humility, and begin
to say, "All these things have I done," then remember that
"Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before
a fall." The feet of pride are sure to slip in due time.
Take the lesson to heart.
I can't conceive of anything more noble than Solomon's
sense of responsibility and humility before God. A boy
made king, king of the elect nation, king of so great a
people; in other words, the destiny of the whole world is
involved in the mighty religious influences to go out from
him and his people. Well might he say, "Lord, I am a little
child. I don't know how to go out and come in. Give me
wisdom." The saying pleased the Lord. I suggest a ser-
mon : "Ask what I shall give thee."
One Christmas when we had services in the old church at
Waco and I preached the sermon, I took that text: "Ask
SOLOMON'S ACCESSION AND DREAM 271
what I shall give thee," and I told them that every family
represented in the congregation had either propounded or
heard that question in connection v^ith the day. The parent
had said, "What shall I give thee, my son?" and all the
young people had pondered the question: "I am to choose
my gift and I have a large margin ; v^hat will I take?" My
own little boy would say, "Give me an automobile." "Ask
what I shall give thee." What a wonderful thing it is that
God permits to us the statement of the desires of our
hearts. Even if we keep on praying for an evil thing, in
His anger He will sometimes give us what we ask.
God's answer not only gives Solomon what he asks for,
but a number of other things — honor and riches — ^things
that he did not ask for. He gave him wisdom, the capacity
to rule this great people. Our record says, "I give thee a
wise and understanding heart, so that there hath been none
like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like
unto thee." In this connection consider chapter 4 : 29-34 :
"And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding
much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea-
shore. And Solomon's wisdom exceeded the wisdom of all the
children of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was
wiser than all men; than Ethan, the Ezrahite, and Heman, and
Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the
nations round about. And he spake three thousand proverbs; and
his songs were a thousand and five. And he spake of trees,^ from
the cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth
out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of birds, and of creep-
ing things, and of fishes. And there came of all peoples to hear the
wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, who had heard of
his wisdom."
Of that remarkable wisdom we speak particularly in the
next chapter. An exemplification of his wisdom marks the
beginning of his reign, which is here given. There came up
a case to which there were no witnesses beyond the contest-
ants themselves. Two mothers living together in the same
house had children born to them, and one of the children
dies. Then both mothers claim the living child. Nobody
272 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
knows anything about the circumstances except the two
women, and they come before the king to decide the conten-
tion. The first one claimed that it was her child. She says,
"This other woman lost her baby; it died and while I was
asleep she came and took my baby and put her dead baby in
my baby's place, and after awhile when I waked up I looked
intently at this baby in my arms, and found it was dead, but
it was not my baby." Now a mother is certainly able to
know her child. 'T looked intently at it. It was not my baby
and I looked over there and I saw this other woman had my
baby." The other woman contended : 'T say her baby died
and I am the mother of this live child." Under the law
everything must be confirmed by two or three witnesses, but
here there is no evidence except the two parties in court.
How will the young king handle the matter? He says,
"Bring me a sword." The sword is brought. "Cut that
baby into halves and give each woman a half" — not that he
intended to kill the baby; he was only trying to get evi-
dence. As soon as he said that both women speak. One
of them said, "No! No! don't kill the baby. I had rather
give it up to the other woman." The other woman said,
"Yes, kill it and let each one of us have a part." This gave
Solomon his evidence. He knew what to decide. He says,
"Give this baby to the woman who prefers to lose it rather
than see it die. She is the mother." The decision naturally
attracted great attention, and the report of it spread
Solomon's fame far and wide.
QUESTIONS
1. What the first scripture used to introduce this lesson?
2. Rehearse the items of the kingdom charter given in this
scripture.
3. What the second scripture, and its import?
4. What the third scripture? Describe the kingdom according to
this Psalm. Who fulfilled this primarily? Who more largely ful-
fills it?
^ 5. In what did the establishment of Solomon on the throne con-
sist, who was his first enemy, and how was he disposed of?
SOLOMON'S ACCESSION AND DREAM 273
6. Where do we find the law of the sanctuary? Did Solomon
violate it in having Joab put to death while holding on to the horns
of the altar?
7. Who the second enemy, and how disposed of?
8. Who was appointed to fill Joab's office? Abiathar's?
9. Was the marriage of Solomon to the daughter of the king of
Egypt a violation of the law not to inter-marry with the people
round-about? What Psalm touching this marriage?
10. Describe Solomon as a puzzled worshipper,
11. What was God's proposition to Solomon, and Solomon's re-
quest? What the lesson for us? What God's answer to this re-
quest? Give an example of his wisdom as exercised.
XXVII
THE ANALYSIS OF SOLOMON'S WISDOM
Scriptures: I Kings 3:4-27; 4:29-34; 10:1-10
THE scriptures that embody for us the account of the
wisdom of Solomon are as follows : I Kings 3 : 4-27 ;
4:29-34; 10:1-10, the book of Proverbs, the book
of Ecclesiastes, Solomon's Song, Matthew 12:42 and
Psalm 127. Other Psalms are attributed to Solomon, but
I think not rightly. Psalm 127 is unquestionably his.
The first passages cited give the narrative account, while
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Psalm 127
constitute Solomon's contribution to the Bible as embodi-
ments of his wisdom, while Matthew 12:42 institutes a
comparison with One wiser than Solomon.
Before discussing the wisdom of Solomon I call your
attention to Old Testament approaches to it. The first
approach to it is found in Exodus 31:3-6 and repeated
again in Exodus 35 and 36. These plainly declare that the
artificers who made the different parts — the artistic parts —
of the tabernacle and its vessels derived the wisdom with
which they wrought them from God. They received the
inspiration of God to do those things exactly right. The
next approach we find in the life of David, an account of
three wise women, II Sam. 14:2 and 20: 16. The first one
was Abigail ; the second was a wise woman from Tekoah,
employed by Joab to convince David that he ought to
recall Absalom ; the third was a wise woman in a city in the
Northern part of Palestine who, through her wisdom, saved
the city from destruction by having the head of the rebel
«74
ANALYSIS OF SOLOMON'S WISDOM 275
that had fled to them thrown over the wall to Joab. A fourth
approach is found in the book of Chronicles (I Chron.
12:32) where reference is made to the men of Issachar
that were wise and had understanding of the signs of the
times and knew what Israel ought to do.
I now analyze for you the wisdom of Solomon. Our first
inquiry is concerning its origin. On the divine side it is
expressly stated that it is the gift of God (I Kings 3, com-
mencing with the 5th verse), but preliminary to the divine
origin certain human factors explain how Solomon was pre-
pared to make the extraordinary request for wisdom. He
was only a boy. How did it ever occur to him to ask for
such a gift as that instead of some other things?
That leads us to consider the human element in the origin.
If you read in the book of Proverbs commencing at 7 : 3
you see David's instruction to him to get wisdom, to get
understanding, as more precious than rubies and gold or
anything else in the world. All those chapters cited, from
the fourth to the seventh inclusive, give us David's instruc-
tions and exhortations to his son. They tell us who put it
into his mind to prize wisdom above all earthly things.
What a glorious thing it is to have the right kind of a
father ! By reading Psalm ^2 you get at another factor of
the human origin. There his father is praying that his
son may have the kind of wisdom to rule the people, and
rule righteously. A little child whose father is continually
speaking about the right kind of wisdom, and continually
praying that his child may have it, will Hkely himself pray
for it. David's prayer and instructions are very touching.
They account for the son's wise response to God's saying,
"Ask what I shall give thee."
Another human factor appears in the book of Proverbs,
the influence of his mother, Bathsheba, not only a beautiful
woman but a really good woman, and a very wise woman.
Solomon himself tells how his mother intervenes: "The
276 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
words of King Lemuel, the oracle that his mother taught
him." Lemuel is another name for Solomon.
"What, my son ? and what, O son of my womb ?
And what, O son of my vows? Give not thy strength unto women,
Nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine;
Nor for princes to say, Where is strong drink?
Lest they drink, and forget the law.
And pervert the justice due to any that is afflicted.
Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish.
And wine unto the bitter in soul,
But rulers should not drink."
Then follows her matchless ideal of a true wife — one of
the brightest gems of literature. Early parental training
from both father and mother prepares the boy to ask for
the best things. The book of Proverbs shows how well he
understood the counsels of both parents, but his later life
shows particularly his disastrous departure from his
mother's oracle. In other words, Solomon knew more
wisdom than he practiced. His were not sins of ignorance.
But when we inquire what prepared the parents to prepare
the child, we go back again, as we always must, to God
himself verifying the saying of James, "Every good gift and
every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from
the Father of lights with whom is no variableness, neither
shadow of turning." This is manifest when we note that
God's promise to give David such a son (See II Sam.
7:12-16) occasions David's prayer and instructions (See
II Sam. 7:18-29 and Psalms 'J2) and also quickened his
mother's interest (See I Chron. 29:9 and I Kings i : 28-29).
The origin of the wisdom of Solomon, therefore, stands
thus: (i) God's promise and oath; (2) Parental instruc-
tion, counsel and prayer preparing the child to appreciate
and ask for the best things ; (3) God's calling out Solomon's
choice; (4) Solomon's choice and request; (5) God's gift
of the thing asked for.
Second question: What that wisdom? Only foolish
ANALYSIS OF SOLOMON'S WISDOM 27T
people think that wisdom and knowledge mean the same
thing. You may know a great deal and be the biggest fool
going. I have known people whose minds were like great
lumber rooms full of odds and ends of all kinds of things,
and yet they were not wise enough to make practical use
of the miscellaneous material. Wisdom is the application
of knowledge. ''Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers."
The elements of Solomon's wisdom were as follows:
First, an understanding heart to discern justice and to
judge righteously and rule righteously. His wisdom was
given to him to enable him to fill his position as king of a
great people. That is how he defined it: "Give me an
understanding heart to discern judgment and to rule rightly
over this so great people."
The second element was the regulation of passions and
life. The book of Proverbs continually discriminates be-
tween the wise one and the simple one. A wise man, clearly
discerning right things and applying right things, will not
allow himself to be entrapped by seduction and temptation,
but the simple one is led astray and a dart is thrust through
his liver.
The next element of the wisdom was the right way of
doing things. You may yourselves discriminate between
wise and foolish pastors by comparing their methods of
handling an affair. The most of the trouble that comes
upon the churches comes by the unwise handling of delicate
affairs. He may injudiciously gossip with his members
about a delicate mattei* and so hopelessly stir up his church into
hostile parties, or he may preach about it censoriously, or
be hasty to commit himself on exparte evidence until he will
no longer be able to moderate with impartiality. The other,
by wise handling, will heal the breach. When a difficult
case is presented to a wise man his first words are, "Let us
see how we can get at the heart of this matter and deal with
it wisely so as not to do harm but to do good." Up in New
278 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
England it is a proverb that the wise housekeeper is a
woman of tact. She may not see the right any better than
some other woman, but she does the right better; she gets
at it more skillfully.
The fourth element was his power to interpret things.
Like these men of Issachar, who could not only discern the
signs of the times, but could put a proper construction upon
the march of events and hence could tell what Israel ought
to do. Our Savior rebuked the men of His day that while
they could read the signs of the heavens, and tell when it
was likely to be a fair or a cloudy day, they did not read
the signs of the spiritual times, and allowed great calamities
to come on them unprepared. This power to interpret
applies to natural as well as spiritual things. It has been
said that no man can interpret nature who does not love
nature. But Solomon loved nature, and he could get at
the secret of the plant on the wall, and the cedar of
Lebanon, and the birds that fly and the flowers that bloom.
Tradition says that the birds loved him so that the doves
would form a canopy with outspread wings under which he
could march from his house to the temple. You need not
believe the legend, but it exhibits the people's idea of
Solomon's power of interpreting the secrets of nature. It
is said of Byron by Pollock that he laid his hand with the
familiarity of a brother upon the ocean's mane, and made
the mountains his brothers, and the thunders talked to him
as a friend. He himself exhibits his power in the famous
poem, "An Apostrophe to the Ocean" — a matchless poem of
its kind which all of you would do well to memorize. It
commences thus:
"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods."
The fifth element in his wisdom was largeness of heart,
or broad-mindedness. The scripture statement is that he
had largeness of heart as the sands of the seashore. Sam
ANALYSIS OF SOLOMON'S WISDOM 279
Jones used to say, "No man can be broad-minded who has
'possum eyes' — so close together that you can punch out
both of them at once with an old-fashioned two-tined table
fork." Some men are so narrow that they cannot even
conceive of a big, broad subject. But Solomon had large-
ness of heart.
The next element of his wisdom was philosophy. The
book of Ecclesiastes embodies it. He there seeks to ascer-
tain the chief good and the chief end of man. What is that
good thing that a man should do all the days of his Hfe?
Philosophy inquires into the reason of things, for the
philosophy of a thing is the reason of a thing. You have
already found out that I have little respect for uninspired
philosophy. We might profitably omit the course from
college curriculums. It is all sheer speculation from Thales
to Epicurus and Zeno ; from Aristotle to Kant ; from Kant to
the pragmatism of Prof. James of Harvard.
As William Ashmore in his review of Prof, James, well
says, "Lewes acted as a sexton in burying all the philosophies
up to his time, and his successors have buried him." Their
speculations after all are but "airy nothings," as varied as
the shifting scenes in a kaleidoscope, and all as transitory as
rainbows vanishing in the storm. Each successor does only
one good thing — he brushes out the trail of his predecessor.
Even Solomon goes a long and costly way in Ecclesiastes,
to get at a conclusion obvious to a child's faith. Carefully
observe that wisdom should be invoked in order to do the
right things in the right way in dealing with our fellowmen
and our God; to lead us in the paths of judgment, mercy
and truth.
The next point in the analysis is to locate the very begin-
ning of real wisdom in the human heart, and here you find
Solomon's conclusion in Ecclesiastes in direct harmony with
Job 28. That whole chapter is devoted to this question:
"Where shall wisdom be found ? and where is the place of
«80 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
understanding?" and concludes by saying, *The fear of the
Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil, under-
standing/' When we come to the New Testament we find
that James says, *'If any man lack wisdom let him ask of
God, who giveth liberally and upbraideth not, but let him
ask in faith, nothing doubting. An unstable man wavering
in all his ways, his prayers will not be answered."
The next element in the analysis is the antecedent charac-
teristics of a seeker of wisdom. First, humiHty. Solomon
says, "I am a little child ;" a knowledge of his need, "I don't
know how to go out or to come in ;" and next, prayer for it.
Our next item in the analysis of Solomon's wisdom
answers this question: How was that wisdom of his
expressed? And the answer is, It is expressed, first, in
deed, as when he made the decision about the baby and the
two women claiming it ; the second when he answered all the
hard questions that the Queen of Sheba put to him and, by
the way, he is the only man known to history who answered
fairly all the questions put to him by a woman. It is also
expressed in the books he wrote, treating upon the subject:
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and one Psalm.
In these books he embodies it in proverbs, pithy sayings and
parables, contrasting one thing with another, a comparison
obtained by putting two things parallel, which is the mean-
ing of parable originally.
The next point in the analysis is the fame of his wisdom,
or the impression that it made upon his own time and suc-
ceeding generations. According to a statement made in
I Kings 4 : 34, Solomon's fame went to all the kings of the
earth. They all heard about him. The Queen of Sheba
heard a rumor of him. It was carried on every ship, car-
ried over every desert on every camel, carried by every
traveler, "Over yonder at Jerusalem in the Holy Land is
the wisest man the world ever knew. He can solve any
perplexity; he can answer the hardest questions. He can
ANALYSIS OF SOLOMON'S WISDOM S81
deliver the most righteous judgments. He can discern the
very heart of a thing and lay it open." The fame of his
wisdom is evidenced by imitations in later days and by the
increment of extravagant legends. The apocryphal books
of "Wisdom" and "Ecclesiasticus" are imitations, centuries
later; the first is an imitation of Proverbs, the second of
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Solomon's Song. The so-called
"Psalter of Solomon," consisting of eighteen Psalms and
found in the Septuagint, is another example of imitation.
Indeed, a school of wisdom Hterature followed. The
extravagant legends of his exorcism of demons and genii,
his magical powers vested in incantations, seals, amulets,
charms and inscriptions, may be gathered from Josephus,
the Koran, "The Arabian Nights," and a world of Oriental
literature. The Jews have a legend that when Alexander
came to Jerusalem and learned about the wisdom of
Solomon, he took back with him a copy of Solomon's books
and furnished them to Aristotle, and that he derived a large
part of his philosophy from Solomon's philosophy.
In this connection may be asked the date of the book of
Job. Stanley, after a comparison of its style, thought, and
turns of expression, with Solomon's book, makes it a prod-
uct of Solomon's times. His argument is very inconclusive.
On the other hand, Dr. Thirtle, in his "Old Testament
Problems" takes the position that it was composed to pacify
and instruct Hezekiah in his afflictions. His argument is
much more plausible than Stanley's, but the argument for
the Mosaic authorship and time is much stronger than
either. The book of Job is older, profounder and more
archaic than Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, or than Psalm 73 attrib-
uted to Asaph. Its correspondences with the Pentateuch
are more numerous and more striking than can be traced in
any literature of the days of David, Solomon or Hezekiah.
Moses, exiled for forty years in Midian, touching Job's
country, finds the opportunity arising from association with
282 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
the characters in Job. The unmerited suffering of his
people in the Egyptian furnace, of which suffering he him-
self is an example, gives the clue to the book. The burning
bush solves the problem, and after the lesson appropriately
come Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuter-
onomy, increasing the light. The book of Job shows how
men without the revelations of the Pentateuch attempt to
solve the problem of the unmerited sufferings of the
righteous. Its key passages cry out for a revelation. It
is on this theory that the first book of the Bible was to be
written, therefore I count Job the first book of the Bible.
The last thought in connection with Solomon's wisdom is
The Glorious Antitype, — I must speak a little about Him.
In Matt. 12:42, Jesus says, 'The Queen of the South shall
rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall con-
demn it, for she came from the end of the earth to hear
the wisdom of Solomon, and behold a greater Solomon is
here." In other words, in the New Testament is Wisdom.
Paul says so, using the feminine form, Sophia, that is, the
wisdom and power of God. John says so in using the mas-
culine form Logos, or Reason.
The Pharisees asked this question: "Whence hath this
man wisdom ?" They wanted to get at the origin of Christ's
wisdom, seeing that He hath never learned. Whence his
power to silence every gainsayer and to give answers to
perplexities that startle the world today? Whence His
wisdom? In Isaiah 11 is the prophecy concerning the
origin of the wisdom of the great antitype of Solomon, the
Prince of Peace:
"And there shall come forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse,
and a branch out of his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of
Jehovah shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understand-
ing, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of
the fear of Jehovah. And His delight shall be in the fear of Jehovah;
and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither decide
after the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness shall He
judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the
ANALYSIS OF SOLOMON'S WISDOM 283
earth; and He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth;
and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked. And
righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness
the girdle of His reins."
There is the seven-fold wisdom, meaning the perfection
of wisdom. That wisdom was conferred upon Christ
without measure, and He, too, prayed for it as He came up
out of baptism, for the Spirit descended upon Him in the
form of a dove, and ever afterwards every thought of His
life, every step of His life, was in exact accord with the
promptings of the Spirit of God that came upon Him with-
out measure. He spoke in parables, putting things along-
side of each other, and He spoke in proverbs and epigrams,
and the sayings of Jesus rule the world today. He rules in
exact righteousness, rich and poor alike.
The Jewish idea of wisdom far surpassed the Greek idea
of it. Theirs was unaided human philosophy, and purely
speculative. For example, Lucretius, in 'The Nature of
Things," or the Epicurean philosophy at its fountain head,
enunciates the essential features of modern evolution. See
how the Stoics accounted for the origin of things and the
government of the world! Their Fate, and the Chance of
the Epicureans, are against God's Providence. See how
their wisdom had no practical effect on morals. Their wise
men oftentimes were the vilest men, and in the highest
attainments of their philosophies their cities rotted and
became putrid in the sight of God. Not so with the wisdom
that God gives. In the same way Gnosticism, a subjective
infallible knowledge for the few, bred a varied progeny of
asceticism, license and antinomianism. Christ, then, is the
great antitype of Solomon.
QUESTIONS
1. What scriptures give an account of the wisdom of Solomon?
2. As to its origin: (i) What the human element? (2) What
the divine element? (3) What the summary of the origin?
284 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
3. As to its meaning and content: (i) Define wisdom as com-
pared with knowledge, and tell who wrote ''Knowledge comes
but Wisdom lingers." (2) Give the elements of his wisdom. (3)
Show wherein is the superiority of the Hebrew wisdom over
"the Sophia" of the Greeks.
4. How does Solomon go a long way to find his simple con-
clusion concerning the very beginning of v/isdom?
5. What chapter of Job is devoted to the same inquiry and
reaches a similar conclusion?
6. How does James, our Lord's brother, tell us to get wisdom?
7. What the antecedent characteristics of a seeker of wisdom?
8. How was Solomon's wisdom expressed?
9. What the fame of his wisdom: (i) As stated in this chap-
ter? (2) As expressed in imitations? (3) As expressed in legends?
10. Cite an illustrious example of one brought to Solomon by
the fame of his wisdom.
11. What the effect on her of witnessing his wisdom?
12. What modern son perpetuates her saying?
13. Outline a sermon on our Lord's reference to her in Matt.
12:42.
14. Who the glorious Antitype of Solomon?
15. What Greek word does Paul use in describing Him?
16. What Greek word does John employ to the same end?
17. What was the puzzle to the Pharisees concerning Him?
18. Quote the words of Isaiah answering their question.
19. What the great contrast on practical lines between Christ's
wisdom and the wisdom of Solomon?
20. Define Gnosticism and Agnosticism and contract Christ's
wisdom with both.
21. Explain Solomon's sacrifices at Gibeon instead of Jerusalem.
XXVIII
THE WORKS OF SOLOMON
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 168-178
THE works of Solomon were mainly buildings, whether
of houses, or cisterns, etc., constructed during his
reign and under his supervision. The first and most
famous was the temple. The second was his own house.
The third was his wife's house. The fourth was the
upbuilding of the walls of Jerusalem and its fortifications,
strengthening particularly the famous citadel of Millo.
Fifth, he built two kinds of cities, and quite a number of
each kind. One kind was for the headquarters and pro-
tection of his commerce; another kind was fortified cities
controlling all the passes from any direction into his land.
Among the fortified cities note the following :
First, Lebanon. He erected a strong fortification in the
northern part of his country in the mountains of Lebanon
on the great highway of Damascus, to guard the immense
trade that poured through that city from the fords of the
Euphrates.
Next, Hazor, still further North near Lake Merom. The
object of that city was to protect the entrance from the
South of Syria into his country. You should know the
topography of the country in order to fully- understand the
wisdom of the location of each fortified city.
The next was at Megiddon on the plain of Esdraelon,
which was the great battle plain of the Holy Land. It was
so in ancient times. It was so in mediaeval times, and
according to prophecy will be so near the end of time.
285
286 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
This fortification controlled all the Esdraelon plain. It was
in the western part of the Holy Land, about the middle of
it not far from the Mediterranean Sea.
The next was the great pass of Beth-horon, where
Joshua fought his decisive battle. That is the pass leading
from the Philistine country to Jerusalem. He fortified both
ends of that pass, upper and nether, so that from the Plains
of the Philistines an army could not approach Jerusalem in
that direction.
Then on the South there were Gezer and Baalath, two
other fortified places that protected not only from the
Philistine raids, but the Egyptian raids on the southwest.
His other fenced cities — and I will not mention all of them
— protected the borders on the east of the Jordan, so that
when these fortifications were completed Solomon's coun-
try was like Paris before the war with Germany, and even
since, i. e., from every direction there were long lines of
fortifications.
The other class of cities was mainly on account of trade.
You should have a map before you. East or northeast of
Damascus, and south of his border on the Euphrates, was
a desert, and in that desert a cluster of the most famous
springs or fountains in the world — perennial water in
abundance and beautiful groves of palm trees — and there
Solomon built a city, Tadmor, which stood a thousand
years, and in later history is called Palmyra, where Zenobia,
the Queen of the East, reigned. If you are familiar with
Roman history, you will remember her capture at her capi-
tal Palmyra, and her being brought a prisoner to Rome, and
there settling down as a quiet Roman matron, marrying a
member of the Roman nobility. In history the city of
Palmyra is famous. In our times it is famous for archae-
ology. To the ruins of Palmyra, Baalbek and Thebes on
the Nile, and similar places, scholars go to excavate and give
us the result of their studies in archaeology.
THE WORKS OF SOLOMON 287
Solomon built quite a city, not for land commerce, but
for sea commerce, at the head of the Gulf of Akaba, and
transported a large population there in order that it should
be held by loyal Jews, as that was his only good seaport.
Those on the Mediterranean coast that lay within the
boundary of his country — Joppa, for example — were very
poor seaports.
The next great buildings in connection with his reign
were the store houses, immense structures on all the lines of
traffic leading to Jerusalem where the revenues of the king
were collected. Then the great stables that he erected for
the housing of his chariot horses and cavalry horses.
Another great work of Solomon was the building of
roads. Our city papers say much about the split-log drag
and the necessity for good wagon roads, roads for foot
passengers and horsemen, for bringing the country products
to the city markets. Solomon's system of roads became as
famous as the roads described by Prescott in the history of
Peru, which are ahead of any in history except the Roman
roads.
A very difficult work of Solomon was the building of a
navy of his own. When he traded in the Mediterranean he
had to use the ships of Tyre, just as a great part of our
trade now is carried on in English or German bottoms.
That is not as helpful to a country as to have its own mer-
chant marine, its own ships for carriage. A tremendous
change in Solomon's kingdom was brought about by the
establishment of this navy of his at Ezion-geber at the head
of the Gulf of Akaba, which is a part of the Red Sea.
Those ships were manned largely by Tyrians, as the Jews
were not good sailors, and that fleet would set sail with
imposing ceremony, to be gone three years. That is a very
considerable voyage. The fleet would sail down the Indian
Ocean to the East Indies, Borneo, Sumatra, and other
islands of the archipelago in the Indian Ocean, and then on
288 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
to the archipelagos in the Pacific Ocean, and all down the
Eastern coast of Africa.
Before Solomon's time Africa had been circumnavigated.
Fleets, starting in the Red Sea, had gone clear around the
Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, and back into the
Mediterranean through the Straits of Gibraltar. They
seemed to have forgotten about this when, not long before
the time of Columbus, Vasco De Gama circumnavigated
Africa, but it had been done before Solomon's time. That
fleet would bring him back spices, jewels, gold and silver, and
it mentions in your text here peacocks among other things,
with the hundred eyes of Argus in their tails, according to
Greek legend. You remember that Juno appointed Argus,
because he had a hundred eyes, to watch Jupiter and see
that he did not stay out at night, and Jupiter employed
Mercury to play on his flute, and by its music to put Argus
to sleep, and while asleep to kill him ; and then Jupiter had
his own sweet will without espionage. But Juno put the
eyes of Argus in the peacock's tail, and indeed if his eyes
could serve no better purpose while in his head, they might
as well be in a bird's tail.
In Hurlbut's "Bible Atlas" is a detailed description of
Solomon's most famous building — the temple of the Lord.
You must not expect from me an elaborate description of
the temple. I submit, rather, some salient points.
I. The Plan and Specifications. — These were all given to
David by inspiration of God. The Temple proper was but
an enlargement of the house built by Moses, with relative
proportions preserved throughout. The plan of the house
built by Moses was also inspired. This we studied in
Exodus.
n. The Date. — On page 170 of your book this statement
is made : "And it came to pass in the 480th year after the
children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in
THE WORKS OF SOLOMON 289
the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month
of Ziv, which is the second month, that he began to build
the house of the Lord," and on the second day of that sec-
ond month, as you see from the corresponding passage in
Chronicles, this temple was commenced. This specific
date, so circumstantially given, has puzzled many com-
mentators. They don't know how to fit the events of
Moses, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and David into just 480
years. It is the governing passage that largely influenced
Archbishop Usher in arranging the chronology as you see it
at the head of your King James Bible.
Turn now to page 173: "In the fourth year was the
foundation of the house of the Lord laid, in the month of
Ziv. And in the eleventh year, in the month Bui, which is
the eighth month, was the house finished throughout all the
parts thereof, and according to all the fashion of it. So
was he seven years in building it." Not only the building
itself, but all its furniture, the utensils and implements of
every kind put in the temple and used in its worship, was
a work of seven years.
The next salient point worthy of your attention is the
message of the Lord to Solomon when he was about to
commence this work. You find it on page 170 at the
bottom : "And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, say-
ing, Concerning this house which thou art building, if thou
wilt walk in my statutes and execute my judgments, and
keep all of my commandments to walk in them; then will
I perform my word with thee, which I spake unto David,
thy father. And I will dwell among the children of
Israel and will not forsake my people Israel." This is what
He says to Solomon, "You have commenced to build a
house for me. I come to tell you that I am with you, and
give you my promise at the start that it shall be God's
dwelling-place." When we come to the next visit the Lord
makes to Solomon, when the house was dedicated, I will
290 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
give you another remarkable passage, but this one is at the
commencement of the work.
The next thing we note is the site. The first intimation
of the site is given to us in Abraham's time. Abraham was
commanded to take his son Isaac and offer him up as a
burnt offering upon Mount Moriah, then held by the Jebu-
sites ; and on that mountain and at the very place where the
temple was subsequently erected, there the symbolic fore-
cast of the offering up of a greater Isaac took place. The
next account that we have of the site is when the great
plague came upon the people of Jerusalem, and David
to avert the plague presented himself before God, and
offered to die for his people, to let the punishment come
upon him and spare the people. When he saw the angel of
death approaching Jerusalem, he boldly went forth to
meet the angel, and proposed a substitutionary sacrifice
of himself ; and then the plague was stayed, and at the
place where the plague was stayed, David bought the
threshing-floor of Araunah, the Jebusite, and marked it
out as the site where God's house was to be erected,
where the great sacrifices were to be offered throughout
the ages, that were to foretell the coming of the greatest
Sacrifice.
Next in importance is the great work of preparing the
foundation. You must conceive of an irregularly shaped
mountain whose crest was taken off low enough down the
mountain to give sufficient area. If on three sides the
mountain sloped down into the valley, a wall must be built
on those three sides high enough for the desired level, and
the crest taken off must be used to fill in all the space to a
level with the wall summit. On one side there would be no
wall. The area of the space thus leveled was about thirty
acres in the shape of a trapezoid, one side of which was
1,520 feet; the opposite side 1,611 feet; one end 1,017 feet,
and the other end 921 feet. Of course, the height of the
THE WORKS OF SOLOMON 291
wall would vary on the three sides, according to the dip of
the slope into the valley below. The greatest height of the
wall was 143 feet. This perpendicular wall, built of
immense stones bevelled into each other without cement,
would render the temple area unapproachable and impreg-
nable on three sides. The fourth side was safe-guarded by
an immense moat, and by the fortified tower of Millo. The
crest of the mountain taken off was not sufficient in bulk to
fill in on the three sides up to the top of the wall, and then
to furnish stones for the buildings and terraces. So Solo-
mon opened quarries on the other mountain sides, tunneling
under the city itself. There today may be seen Solomon's
subterranean quarries, where slaves toiled in the heart of
the earth. Their bones are yet where they died, and the
marks of their implements on the everlasting rock, and some
of the mammoth unused stones. These slaves were the
unassimilated Canaanites, fed and clothed indeed after a
fashion, but without wages. So also the multitude of
laborers who were sent to Tyre under overseers to get out
the forest timbers, were conscript laborers, thousands of
them, working in reliefs under taskmasters.
But Solomon had nobody in his kingdom skillful enough
to direct the stone work and establish foundries for the
materials of brass, silver and gold. So he appealed to
Hiram, king of Tyre, for an expert superintendent. The
king of Tyre sent him the son of a widow, also called
Hiram. If you ever get to be a Mason, you will hear more
about Hiram Abiff. He was the architect of the whole
business, and had the full superintendence of everything.
Your text here gives an account of him, and of what he did
in constructing the Temple.
An equally stupendous work in the way of preparation
had to be done, namely, to provide an adequate water
supply. To this end, he built enormous cisterns capable of
holding many millions of barrels of water, and aqueducts
29S THE HEBREW MONARCHY
for carrying the water. He built pools, like the Pool of
Siloam, and vast reservoirs.
You must not conceive of the 35 acres as one level, but
several terraced levels, one terrace rising above another
until on the highest level is the temple proper and its imme-
diate approaches. The lowest level was the court of the
Gentiles, a higher level the court of the women. The whole
area with its inner divisions corresponds in general plan to
the enclosed area around the tabernacle of Moses and the
tent itself. The temple proper, itself a small building, was
only the tent of Moses on a larger scale, all relative propor-
tions preserved.
The lumber material was more difficult to procure than
the stone material. It came from the forests of Lebanon —
cedar and fir. The getting out of the timber from the
forest, and the floating of it in great rafts from Tyre to
Joppa, was performed by Hiram's men. Solomon fur-
nished the rations and compensated for the labor by giving
King Hiram ten cities. When Hiram came to inspect the
cities, he found them to be only sites for cities, something
like Charles Dickens' description of American cities, which
existed only in sanguine prospect, or like the Bible descrip-
tion of Jerusalem in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah : ''Now
the city was exceedingly large, only the houses were not yet
built, and the inhabitants thereof were few." Hiram, in
disgust, refused to receive them, and Solomon buih
them and peopled them with Jews. It has always seemed,
on the face of it, that Solomon played an unworthy Yankee
trick on his confiding and generous ally. Solomon's own
men had to transport this lumber material all the way up
hill from Joppa to Jerusalem, and there, under the skilled
supervision of Hiram, the widow's son, they were fashioned
for their place in the temple. Indeed, every part, whether
of stone, timber or metal, was so skillfully fashioned that
the temple went up without the sound of axe, saw or ham-
THE WORKS OF SOLOMON
mer. So the spiritual temple arises in silence rather than
noise. The kingdom of Heaven comes not with observa-
tion. ''Sanctified rows," as in many modern meetings, and
confusions of mingled services, as at Corinth, are not con-
tributory to the edifying of the temple of Christ.
There are some very striking references to the works of
Solomon in the books of Ecclesiastes and the Song. For
instance, this passage from Ecclesiastes 2 — Solomon him-
self talking : 'T made me great works, I builded me houses ;
I planted me vineyards; I made me gardens and orchards,
and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruits ; I made
me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that
bringeth forth trees."
The gardens or paradises built by Solomon, the principal
ones, were these: One near Jerusalem, where tremendous
work in the rock had to be made to get space — terrace
space — for his garden. Another was built about seven
miles south of Jerusalem, near Bethlehem ; and his summer
park was at Mount Lebanon, described in the Song of
Solomon, and when the hot summertime would come, and
he would start to that summer resort in the mountains, a
palanquin, or traveling carriage was made, and what a
gorgeous thing it was ! As it was a mountainous country,
a palanquin was used and carried on the shoulders of men,
but not until he got to a point where a chariot could not be
used; up to that point he went in a beautiful chariot, the
finest ever known, drawn by the finest of horses, as that
Song tells you : ''Who is this that cometh out of the wilder-
ness Hke pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frank-
incense, with all the powders of the merchant?"
The era of all these famous works was one of peace.
These are not the achievements of unsettled times. War is
destructive, not constructive. Solomon was not a man of
blood, but the prince of peace, and hence the type of Him
at whose triumph all wars cease for ever.
294 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
QUESTIONS
1. What the principal building works of Solomon in Jerusalem?
2. What two kinds of cities elsewhere?
3. Cite the more important fortified cities and the purpose of each.
4. Locate and describe the trade city of Tadmor, and give
something of its subsequent history.
5. What city for sea trade, and how peopled?
6. Why was he dependent upon the Phoenician cities of Tyre
and Sidon for Mediterranean trade?
7. Locate and give the reason for building Ezion-geber, and
describe the commerce promoted by it. Tell about his fleet there,
how manned and why, the time length of its voyages, the coun-
tries visited, and the products imported.
8. Was Africa circumnavigated before the famous voyages
around it by Vasco De Gama? How was it done?
9. Where, probably, the Ophir of the ancients? Where Tar-
shish ?
10. What did Solomon in the way of roads, and what other
countries since his time were noted for the building of good
roads?
11. What attention is given to this matter by our country now?
12. How were the plans and specifications of the temple ob-
tained, and through whom?
13. What previous plan on a smaller scale was followed, and
how and through whom was it obtained? _
14. Why was Jehovah so particular in insisting on exact con-
formity with every detail of His plan?
15. What the site of the temple, and the two great historical
events leading to its selection, and their typical import?
16. Where may we find the details of the temple structure?
17. Give the date of its beginning, and time of its building?
18. Describe the foundation work, the area obtained, and its
shape and side dimensions.
19. Whence the material for this foundation work, the laborers,
and the modern evidence of their labor?
20. How many levels on this area, and the purpose of each?
21. Whence and what the materials of wood, how gotten out
and transported, who the laborers, how many, and how supplied
with food?
22. Who was the human architect?
23. Besides food supplies, how did Solomon compensate Hiram,
king of Tyre, for his help, what Hiram's opinion of the bargain,
and what became of the rejected compensation?
24. What evidence of the perfect preparation of every piece
of material before it was put into the building, and what the
typical import?
25. What became of Solomon's temple, and whose succeeded
it? What its fortunes, and who restored it on a grand scale
near the time of our Lord, and what became of it? What build-
ing now occupies the ancient building site?
26. Of what was the tabernacle of Moses and Solomon's temple
a type?
XXIX
DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 178-192
THIS discussion begins on page 178 of the Harmony,
and relates to the dedication of the temple. We
have already shown that the building of the temple
was the greatest work of Solomon ; that it made the greatest
impression upon the world's mind of any structure that had
ever been erected in human history. The importance of
the temple was to insure a central place of worship, or of
sacrifice, rather. The object of it was to bring about unity
of faith, and national unity among the people. The idea
comes from the following legislation by Moses : **When you
shall obtain possession of the land and have become estab-
lished, then you shall have one place in which to appear
before the Lord." In brief, the purposes of the temple
were these :
1. To provide a fixed habitation for Jehovah.
2. To provide a central place of worship where the tribes
might assemble at the three great annual festivals and thus
preserve the unity of the nation, Jehovah being the center
of unity. In other words, as we explained on Leviticus,
there must be : (a) A place to meet Jehovah on the throne
of grace. (b) Sacrifices, or means of propitiation,
(c) Priests, or Intermediaries between Jehovah and the
people, (d) Times in which to approach Him, that is, with
daily, weekly, monthly and annual offerings, (e) A Ritual,
telling how to approach Him.
3. To prefigure the more glorious building, the church of
295
296 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
our Lord. A magnificent building, with an imposing ritual,
and with fixed times of gathering the whole nation together,
would bring about this unity of faith and unity of national
life. The building having been completed, Solomon now
proposes to publicly and formally dedicate it to the service
of God. God had told him when he commenced the build-
ing that He would inhabit the house built for Him, and now
Solomon proposes, by a very solemn national service, to con-
secrate this house to the Lord. I do not suppose that from
any other one source, indeed from all other sources put
together, that we get the idea of dedication-services so
much as from this. The house could not be dedicated as
soon as it was finished. It was several months from the
time it was finished until it was dedicated. There had to be
an appropriate time. It must be on the occasion of one of
the great national feasts ; so it was probably several months
after the house was completed before the dedication services
took place.
The first thing was to secure a great convocation of the
people, and it is repeatedly stated that from Hamath on the
north, or from the Euphrates River, unto the River of Egypt
on the south, throughout the length and breadth of the land
the princes, the rules of the people, the representative men,
were all commanded to be present. So it was a very great
national convocation. The next step was to bring into this
house all of the sacred things that survived from Moses'
time, and including those that had been prepared by David.
So with great ceremony the old tent that Moses built, the
brazen altar of burnt offerings, the table for the shew-
bread and the golden candlestick, were all brought and put
in this temple. Those of them no longer usable, for
instance the tent, and a great many of the old-time utensils,
were stored away and preserved as relics, including the
brazen serpent Moses had made. We hear of that in a later
reign and find out the last disposition of it. Then the Ark
DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE 297
itself was brought from the tent in which David had placed
it, and it was put in its place in the Most Holy Place. It
was necessary to make a new lid for it, or mercy seat. A
long time had elapsed, nearly 500 years, since it was made,
and when they opened it there was found in it nothing but
the two tables of stone upon which God had inscribed the
decalogue. From the Pentateuch we know that other things
had been put there. For instance, Aaron's rod that budded,
the pot of manna, and quite a number of things were put
by the side of the Ark, but when they brought that Ark in
that is all there was in it. Probably at the time it was cap-
tured by the Philistines some of these things were taken out.
The preliminary steps of the dedication were : ( i ) Plac-
ing in the treasury of the house all the things dedicated by
David. (2) Placing all the sacred vessels and furniture in
proper position. (3) The offering of multitudinous sacri-
fices. (4) The priests carrying into the Most Holy Place the
Ark of the Covenant. (5) As the priest issues from the
Most Holy Place, and the one hundred and twenty other
priests standing east of the altar blow their trumpets, and
the great Levite-choir bursts into a song of praise and
thanksgiving, with cymbals and other instruments, saying,
"For He is good; for His mercy endureth forever." (6)
Then the cloud, symbol of divine presence and glory, filled
all the house.
So it had been when Moses finished the tabernacle, and
so it was at Pentecost, after the Lord had built His church,
that the Holy Spirit came down in consecrating, attesting
power.
Now, having all the sacred things in place, Solomon had
a platform of brass erected, about seven feet square, for
himself, a kind of pulpit, so that he would be sufficiently
lifted up above the people to be seen as well as heard, and
we now note a singular fact, viz. : that Solomon acted as
both king and high priest, a royal priest, a priest on a
298 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
throne, and all through his life, he seems not only to per-
form the functions of the high priest, but he keeps the
entire priesthood subject to his immediate control. Noth-
ing is more evident in the study of his life than that the
throne, in this case the civil power, kept the priesthood, the
religious power, in subservience.
Solomon's posture in this dedication was standing at the
introduction, standing when he goes to pronounce the bene-
diction, but in offering prayer, he kneels, and that is the
first place in the Bible where kneeling for prayer is men-
tioned. You read in the Bible about standing to pray and
sitting to pray, and here we have kneeling to pray, showing
that the posture is not essential to the act. One can pray
lying down, but kneeling is very reverential, and congrega-
tions should observe one form.
Standing up before the people, his opening address
reverts to the fact of God's promise to David that a son
should succeed him, and that this son should build Him a
house, and God's promise to live in the house when it was
built. He then commences his prayer, and it is a very
remarkable one. His first petition is that the Lord would
accept and continually look toward this structure, really
inhabit it and be present in it. The other elements of the
petition are clearly set forth in the text here. Look on page
i8o of the Harmony. First, the position with reference to
the making of an oath where there is an issue between
neighbors, and the difficulty cannot be settled by outside tes-
timony, then all oaths shall be made before God. A man,
as in the presence of God, shall solemnly swear that what he
says is the correct version of the case. That is called an
appeal to the judgment of God. It was a favorite method
of settling matters throughout the middle ages. For
instance, a nobleman might testify about a case, another
challenge his testimony, and they would agree to refer it to
the arbitrament of God, as decided in battle, and the two
DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE 299
knights would come out and fight in the presence of many
witnesses with judges governing all the forms of it, and
trusting to God that the right should triumph in that fight.
In Ivanhoe, you have an account of an appeal to the judg-
ment of God in the fight between Ivanhoe and Sir Brian de
Bois-Guilbert in order to settle a charge against the Jewess,
Rebecca. She appealed to the trial by combat and said let
God say if she was a witch, as they charged, and so the case
was fought out. Hundreds of instances are noticed in his-
tory, romance and poetry of this appeal to God. Another
method of appeal, mentioned also by Sir Walter Scott, is
that when one was found to have died by violence, all of
those whose circumstances made it possible that they might
have participated in that murder were required to come up
before the judge and with the murdered man's body
shrouded in a white sheet, put their finger on the dead man
and swear that they had nothing to do with that murder, and
the legend taught that if the real murderer did come and put
his hand on the man, then blood would flow out from the
wound and thus convict him. Now Solomon prayed that in
any case of issue between two neighbors, where there were
no means of settling it by outside testimony, and they come
before God, that God would decide the case so as to justify
the innocent and condemn the guilty.
His second petition is with reference to defeat in battle.
This people is a glorious people. War will doubtless arise,
and they that go out may be defeated. If they be defeated,
he says it will be on account of their sins, and, convicted of
sin by public defeat, if they there on that battlefield turn
toward the temple and pray God to forgive the sin, then
Solomon asks that their national sin be forgiven.
He next considers the case of droughts. That whole
country is subject to drought, and it is easy for all the
sources of Hfe to be dried up in severe drought. Drought
in the Bible is represented as serving Jehovah ; that it comes
300 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
from Him. Elijah prayed that it might not rain for three
years and six months, and it didn't rain, and he prayed that
it might rain, and it rained. Now he says, "when a time of
drought comes on this land on account of sin, if this people
pray toward this temple, asking God to open the windows of
Heaven and send rain upon the land, then hear thou in
Heaven and forgive the sin and send rain." You notice
how he is connecting the temple with all the great vicissi-
tudes of life.
Following that come famines and pestilences. Famines
may result from wars, in destroying the products of the
land, or they may result from plagues, as of locusts. Now,
when a famine or a pestilence, or a contagious or epidemic
disease, comes — and the whole country was subject to them,
as we would have here in this country, if there should come
the Asiatic cholera, or the yellow fever — then let the people
pray, and his petition is that when these displays of divine
wrath against the sins of men are made, that they will
remember that there at Jerusalem in the temple is a throne
of grace unto which any man may come boldly in time of
need and ask divine interposition and pardon. We will find
numerous examples of all these in the history as we go on.
He then takes the case of a stranger. This is a beautiful
thought. Some stranger from a foreign country, not one of
the chosen people of Israel, may be in exile, banished from
his own land, no light from heaven, seemingly, by the selec-
tion of Israel barred from the commonwealth of God, yet if
this stranger comes to that temple and lifts up his heart to
God, then Solomon prays that the Lord will hear that
stranger. That gets to be a very big item of the New Tes-
tament gospel. You remember Paul says to the Ephesians,
"Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citi-
zens with the saints and of the household of God." In this
prayer of Solomon is a forecast of the abrogation of the
middle wall of partition between the Jew and the Gentile.
DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE 301
All peoples, all races, tribes, tongues and kindreds may come
before the Lord. Paul enunciated it in Mars' Hill when
he said, "God made of one blood all nations of men that
inhabit the face of the earth, and appointed their seasons
and their boundaries with a view that they might seek after
Him and find Him." Now if a stranger comes to this
house of God and honestly seeks a blessing from God, he
may find it. That is a good thought. While our houses of
worship are not temples, yet they ought to be places attrac-
tive to strangers. "Here the people of God are meeting
and I am an outsider. Will I be welcome? Is there any-
thing here for me? Will anyone speak a word of comfort
or peace to my soul ?"
When I was pastor of the First Church in Waco, two
deacons had a special duty. Every Sunday morning, as
soon as the bell tapped to call the Sunday School together
for its final exercises, these two deacons arose and went
down on the streets of Waco and spent the time till the
opening song of the church service inviting strangers on the
streets to come to church. One notable incident occurred.
They brought a man in that way one day and he was con-
verted. I think I never heard anything more touching than
his relation of the fact that a very gentlemanly old man saw
him on the street where he was wandering without money,
no place to go, without a friend in the world, and asked him
to come to church, which led to his salvation.
Solomon then takes up the case of battle. This is before
the battle is joined. Is there such a thing as the decision of
battle by the Alrnighty? Infidels adopt the theory of the
French Marshal — that God favors the heaviest 'battalions in
the fight. But the battle is not always to the strong.
Patrick Henry insisted upon that in his speech before the
House of Burgesses. Solomon wanted that thought fixed
in the very hearts of his people, that before they fought they
should pray. At the great battle of Agincourt, when a very
S02 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
small English army was surrounded by an enormous French
army, say 25,000 against 100,000, just before the fight the
English army prayed and the French king says, "Are they
prostating themselves in homage to us already? Do they
acknowledge their defeat?" One who knew them replied
to the king, "No, sire. They are taking their case to their
God, and they will fight the better for it when they get up
oif their knees." One of the soldiers, in the English civil
war, remarked to Prince Rupert that he feared Cromwell's
Ironsides when they knelt and prayed just before a fight
and rose singing, "Let God arise and His enemies be scat-
tered." In the book of the Maccabees there is a marvelous
illustration of this, when Judas Maccabasus with 10,000 men
defeated 100,000, having made a solemn appeal to the God
of battles before the issue was joined.
It is related as an incident of colonial history that in the
war between France and England, with the battlefield over
in this country, that the French at a serious crisis dispatched
a great fleet with 3,000 soldiers and 40,000 stands of arms
to turn the scale, and as that armament approached this
continent, the colonists felt that if it arrived safely they
were lost, and so the preachers gathered the people for
prayer that God might save them from this armament, and
even as they prayed a storm came and scattered the fleet,
wrecking many of the vessels, drowning most of the
soldiers, and sinking most of their munitions of war.
The climax of Solomon's prayer anticipates a time when
his people, on account of very grievous sin, shall be carried
into captivity, their city taken, and over there in a land of
exile they should become slaves of a foreign power. In this
dire disaster, if they should repent and remember and look
back toward Jerusalem and to this house, then might the
Lord forgive them there and restore them to their land.
We see Daniel carrying out this thought, as every day he
would open his window and look toward Jerusalem and
DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE 303
pray, doing just what this prayer suggests. Against the
royal edict he would turn toward the temple and pray. In
Daniel 9 we find a famous prayer confessing the sins of the
people and repeating the promise in the prophecy of
Jeremiah that the seventy years of captivity is nearly out,
and crying out, "Oh Lord, hear! Oh Lord, forgive," and
even while he is praying an angel comes, touches him and
tells him that his prayer is heard and shows him that not
only will they be restored at that time, but unveils the
prophecy concerning the restoration and rebuilding of
Jerusalem and the length of time to elapse between that
event and the birth of the long-looked for Messiah, as you
will find in the conclusion of the ninth chapter.
Having offered this great prayer, Solomon arose and pro-
nounced the benediction. As soon as this prayer ended,
confirmation came in a very remarkable way. Fire came
down from Heaven and burned up the sacrifices that had
been placed upon the altar, and not only that, but God
appears to Solomon as He had appeared to him at Gibeon,
and uses this language, which Spurgeon makes the text of
one of his greatest sermons : "And Jehovah said unto him,
I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou
hast made before me! I have hallowed this house, which
thou hast built to put my name there forever." On the next
page it says, "Now I have chosen and hallowed this house,
that my name may be there forever ; and mine eyes and my
heart shall be there perpetually." In another place He says,
"My hands shall be there." Now Spurgeon takes for a
text: "My name shall be there, my eyes shall be there, my
heart shall be there, my hands shall be there." "Whoever
comes to that place of worship, I see him. Whoever prays,
I hear him. Whoever pleads, I love him and I save him by
my hand." Spurgeon makes a great sermon out of it, and
I suggest it as a good text.
We note the permanent use of the temple : "Then Solo-
304 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
mon offered burnt offerings unto the Lord on the altar of
the Lord which he had built before the porch even as the
duty of every day required." That is the daily sacrifice,
offering according to the commandment of Moses on the
Sabbaths, then there are the weekly sacrifices, and on the
new moons, which are the monthly sacrifices; and then on
the great feast days three times in the year. There you
have the whole cycle of the sacrifices to be offered in the
temple. Moses provided for morning and evening sacrifices
in the tabernacle. Perhaps you have read "The Prince of
the House of David" by Ingraham, an Episcopalian
preacher. He represents the young Jewish lady that came
from Alexandria on a visit to Jerusalem as being waked up
just as the dawn flushed the eastern sky; the silver trum-
pets began to blow, and as those trumpets were blown every-
body rushed to the housetops, and while they were looking
at the temple a great white cloud of incense rose up over
the temple and ascended to heaven, representing the morning
prayers of the people, and they on the housetops prostrated
themselves at the time of the incense and offered their
morning prayers. That occurred every evening also, and it
could be seen by everybody in the city, the going up of that
great cloud of incense. They could hear the sound of those
trumpets calling to prayer morning and evening. Solomon
provided according to the ritual of Moses and David that
these daily sacrifices should never be neglected in that Tem-
ple, nor the sabbatical, or weekly, nor the monthly, nor the
annual sacrifices in the times of the great feasts.
I will devote the rest of the chapter to the glory of Solo-
mon. You will note these words: "And the King made
silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made
he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland for
abundance. So King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the
earth in riches and in wisdom. And all the earth sought the
presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had
DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE 305
put in his heart, and they brought every man his present,
vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, and
armor, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year."
Again, "And Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the
river unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border
of Egypt: they brought him presents, and served Solomon
all the days of his life. For he had dominion over all the
region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Gaza,
over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace
on all sides round about him. Judah and Israel were many,
as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and
drinking, and every man under his vine and under his fig
tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon."
As a sample of the glory of Solomon, we have the visit
of the Queen of Sheba, who came, as our Lord said, from
the uttermost parts of the earth. Commentators are divided
as to whether she was a queen over that best watered and
most fertile part of southern Arabia, or whether she was the
Queen of Abyssinia just across the dividing water in Africa.
Most modem commentators make her the queen of what is
called "Arabia Felix," but my own judgment is that she was
the queen of Abyssinia. The tradition of her reign lingers
there where recently King Menelik defeated the Italian
armies, and where they still keep up certain forms of the
Christian religion, whence also in New Testament times
came the Ethiopian eunuch whom Philip led to Christ. By
combining I Kings lo: 1-13 with Matt. 12:42 you may make
a great sermon with these heads: (i) She heard a rumor
that there was a wise man who could answer any question.
(2) She had hard questions knocking at the door of her
heart, as every woman has. She determined, at any cost,
to have these problems solved, so she makes this great jour-
ney, and when she gets there and he answers all of her
questions and she sees his glory, his temple, the way by
which he went up into the temple, the apparel of his serv-
306 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
ants, there was no more breath in her, that is, she fainted.
You know some people are so finely strung that they will
faint when looking at a great picture, or on being stirred by
great music. From her words, ''The half was not told me,"
we get our hymn, "The half has never yet been told."
My own sermon on Matthew 12:42 had these heads:
(i) There shall be a resurrection of the dead. (2) It will
be a general resurrection, (3) followed by a general judg-
ment, (4) whose determining principle shall be: Men are
judged according to their light.
We may close this discussion with a brief account of Solo-
mon's relations with other governments.
1. Phoenicia. He inherited from his father a most val-
uable alliance with Hiram, king of Tyre, whose fleets con-
trolled the Mediterranean Sea.
2. Egypt. His marriage with Pharaoh's daughter held
the friendship of the ruling dynasty in Egypt.
3. Friendly alliance with the Queen of Sheba.
4. In David's time the Hittite nation at Hamath paid
tribute. Solomon conquered the country.
5. By intermarriage he secured friendly relations with
many countries, as most of his marriages were political.
6. By commerce through the Mediterranean he held
friendly relations with the nations on its shores as far as
Spain.
7. By commerce with the archipelagoes of the Indian
and Pacific Oceans, he held friendly relations with the
Orient, and Africa.
8. By land-traffic he held friendly relations with Arabia,
Mesopotamia and the nations around the Caspian Sea.
QUESTIONS
1. What promise of Jehovah was made to Solomon when he
commenced to build the temple?
2. What command of Jehovah, through Moses, was fulfilled
in the building of the temple?
DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE 307
3. What then, in brief, were the purposes of the temple?
4. What effect has this dedication on all subsequent dedications
of buildings?
5. At what annual festival was the temple dedicated?
6. What the steps of offering the house, and how the divine
acceptance signified ?
7. What similar event occurred in Moses' day, and what greater
event in the New Testament day?
8. Describe the platform occupied by Solomon, and his posture
in the several parts of the dedication.
9. In what double capacity does he act?
10. What the salient points of his opening address?
11. The salient points of his prayer?
12. What evidence in later days that in accord with Solomon's
petition his people prayed toward Jerusalem?
13. In what signal way did confirmation come from heaven that
his prayer was answered?
14. Distinguish between the two manifestations of the glory of the
Cloud, II Chron. 5: 13; 7: 1-3.
15. What says the text of the glory of Solomon, and the extent
of his kingdom? (See I Kings 4:20-25; 10:18-25).
16. What our Lord's reference to Solomon's glory?
17. Recite the story of the Queen of Sheba. Where her country?
What our Lord's reference to it, and what the sermon outline on
Matt. 12:42?
18. What Solomon's relations to foreign nations?
19. When and why Jehovah's second appearance to Solomon?
XXX
THE FALL AND END OF SOLOMON
Scriptures: References in Harmony, pp. 193-194.
SEE I Kings 11 : 1-43 and H Chron. 9 : 29-31, with which
compare (i) Ex. 34:16; Deut. y:^, 4; Ezra 9:1;
Neh. 13:23. (2) Deut. 17:14-20. (3) The two vis-
itations of Jehovah, I Kings 3 : 14 ; 9 : 4-9 ; H Chron.
7: 17-22. (4) The whole book of Ecclesiastes.
1. When Solomon became old he fell away from Jehovah
in heart and hfe.
2. He, himself, furnishes the motto for a heading of this
part of his hfe, "Better is a poor and wise youth than an old
and foolish king, who knoweth not how to receive admoni-
tion any more," Eccles. 4: 13.
3. And he, himself, fitly describes a miserable and dark-
ened old age, thus :
"Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer
thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart,
and in the sight of thine eyes ; but know thou that for all these
things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow
from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh ; for youth and the
dawn of life are vanity. Remember also thy Creator in the days
of thy youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw nigh,
when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; before the sun,
and the light, and the moon, and the stars, are darkened, and the
clouds return after the rain ; in the day when the keepers of the
house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and
the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out
of the windows shall be darkened, and the doors shall be shut in
the street; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one shall
rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music shall
be brought low; yea, they shall be afraid of that which is high, and
terrors shall be in the way; and the almond tree shall blossom, and
the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because
308
FALL AND END OF SOLOMON 309
man goeth to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the
streets : before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is
broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken
at the cistern, and the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and
the spirit returneth unto God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, saith
the Preacher; all is vanity," Eccl. ii : 9 — 12: 8.
4. The immediate occasion of his fall was the influence
of his foreign idolatrous wives.
5. They led him astray on these lines : ( i ) The sensual
indulgence of harem life sapped his physical vitality, ener-
vated his mind and blunted the perception and dulled the
sensitiveness of all his moral faculties. (2) Being them-
selves idolaters, they induced him to provide temples for the
idols of their own countries. (3) To suit their convenience
they led him to locate these houses and altars of idolatry
over against God's holy temple. (4) They finally led him
to participate himself in this idol worship.
6. His sin consisted of these elements :
(i) Primarily and mainly he sinned grievously against
Jehovah, who had exalted him. (2) He grossly violated the
kingdom charter. (3) He openly violated the Mosaic law
of marriage.
7. His sin against Jehovah may be thus particularized:
(i) It was open violation of both the first and second com-
mandment of the decalogue. (2) It was against the light of
two visitations from Jehovah, the second one particularly
warning him against the sin. (3) In placing the idol houses
over against the temple it was flaunting an insult in Jehovah's
face. (4) It was a sin against Jehovah's revelation, and an
abuse of the wisdom given to seek through philosophy the
chief good and chief duty of man, as he himself confesses he
did in the book of Ecclesiastes. (5) It was a sin against
Jehovah as the supreme and only satisfying portion of the
soul to seek happiness by experiment in wealth, pleasure,
luxury and other ways as he confesses he did in the book
of Ecclesiastes.
810 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
8. He sinned against the charter of the kingdom in these
particulars: (i) The charter says, "He shall not multiply
horses to himself," it being against the divine purpose that
his people should depend on cavalry and chariots. But this
is what he did : "And Solomon had 40,000 stalls of horses
for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen," I Kings 4:26. (2)
The charter said "Neither shall he multiply wives unto him-
self, that his heart turn not away." But this is what he did :
"Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, together
with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Am-
monites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites ; of the nations
concerning which Jehovah said unto the children of Israel,
Ye shall not go among them, neither shall they come among
you ; for surely they will turn away your heart after their
gods; Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had 700
wives, princesses, and 300 concubines ; and his wives turned
away his heart. For it came to pass when Solomon was old,
that his wives turned away his heart after other gods ; and
his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as was the
heart of David his father," I Kings 11 : 1-4. (3) The charter
said, "He shall not greatly multiply to himself silver and
gold," but he filled his cofifers with gold, silver and jewels
beyond computation in value. (4) The charter said, "His
heart shall not be lifted up above his brethren," but for dis-
play, and for the buildings of his wives and their extrava-
gant support, he raised forced levies of workmen from his
own people, and imposed onerous taxes which caused a
revolt in the days of his son, Rehoboam, and the loss of
ten tribes. See I Kings 4:6; 5:13, 14; 7:19-23; 11:28;
12:4.
9. He sinned against the sanctity of the Mosaic law of
marriage in taking wives from nations of the Canaanites and
other idolatrous nations. See Ex. 34:16; Deut. 7:3, 4, as
interpreted in Ezra 9:1 and Neh. 13:23, and compare I
Kings II : I, 2.
FALL AND END OF SOLOMON 311
10. We find somewhat of a parallel in Louis XIV of
France, who reduced his nation to pauperism to support his
extravagant displays and mistresses, so that in the days of
Louis XVI came a revolution that painted hell on the sky.
11. The sin of Solomon greatly provoked Jehovah, who
sternly denounced these penalties : ( i ) The greater part of
the kingdom was rent from him and given to his servant, but
for David's sake, the execution was stayed till Solomon died,
I Kings 11:9-13. (2) Adversaries were stirred up, ready
to strike on the first opportunity. (3) These adversaries
were Hadad, the Edomite, who in David's time had shel-
tered in Egypt ; Rezon, the Syrian, who sheltered in Damas-
cus and who abhorred Israel ; Jeroboam, the Ephrathite,
whom Solomon promoted, but who, having been informed
by Jehovah's prophet that he would rule over ten tribes, did
not wait on Jehovah's time but instantly revolted, but when
Solomon sought to kill him, fled to Eg}^pt and sheltered
there.
12. The fearful consequences of Solomon's sin were
sweeping and far-reaching, as appears from these facts :
(i) The contrast between the glorious unity when David
was made king over all Israel (See I Chron. 11:1-3 and
12:23-40) and the disunion under Solomon's son (See
I Kings 12:1-19). (2) This division resulted in the idol-
atry and destruction of the ten tribes except the elect rem-
nants that returned to Judah, thus preserving and perpetu-
ating all the tribes. (3) The idolatry of the ten tribes was
communicated to Judah in Ahab's day, threatening the blot-
ting out of all the tribes. (4) The division made them weak
in the presence of enemies to both, and their prestige and
position among the nations were lost. (5) The destruction
of the ten tribes resulted in the rise of the Samaritans, a
mixed people who rejected all revelation except the Penta-
teuch, and established a rival temple, whose pretensions to
superiority persisted till Messiah's time (See John 4:20).
312 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
(6) The precedent of seeking in speculative philosophy and
in sinful experiment man's chief-end, chief-good, chief-aim,
was taken up and followed by Greek and Roman philoso*
phers — Zeno, Epicurus, Lucretius and Democritus, Gnostics,
Agnostics and modern radical evolutionists even to this day
— all adopting his methods and denying his conclusions.
13. The question naturally arises : Was Solomon's apos-
tasy total and final, and is he today a lost soul? Adam
Clark, the commentator, like nearly all Methodists, Arminian
in doctrine, teaches that Solomon was finally and forever
lost; from which position the author dissents for the fol-
lowing reasons :
1. The record expressly teaches that his apostasy was not
total, but only that his heart toward Jehovah was not perfect
as was the heart of David.
2. That his apostasy was not final seems evident from
the repentance evidenced in the book of Ecclesiastes, which,
after recounting all his experiments in turning from revela-
tion to philosophy and all ending in vanity, comes back to
the conclusion that to fear God and keep His commandments
is the whole of man.
3. The promise of Jehovah to his father David expressly
forbids the idea of his total and final apostasy in saying,
*'When thy days are fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy
fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, that shall proceed
out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He
shall build a house for my name, and I will estabHsh the
throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and
he shall be my son: if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him
with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children
of men, but my loving kindness shall not depart from him,
as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee," H
Sam. 7: 12-15. The contrast here between Saul and Solo-
mon is very marked. Saul sustained no filial relation toward
Jehovah, but Solomon did. Saul was punished as an alien;
FALL AND END OF SOLOMON 313
Solomon was chastised as a son. The Holy Spirit was with-
drawn from Saul, but not from Solomon.
14. Solomon's fall teaches many great lessons, among
which may be named :
1. Sensuality in a man is like the dry rot which crumbles
foundation-timbers.
2. A little child may learn from revelation in a day more
about origin, character, destiny, the chief -end, the chief-
good and the chief-aim of man than all the speculative phi-
losophers throughout the ages haz^e discovered or will ever
be able to discover.
3. Man himself, in his moral dignity, is more than all his
learning, accomplishments, wealth, rank or social position.
"The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gowd for all that."
4. God himself is the only satisfying portion of the soul.
"Tis no' in titles nor in rank,
'Tis no' in wealth like London bank
To give us peace and rest;
If happiness ha'e not her seat
And center in the breast,
We may be wise, or rich, or great
But never can be blest."
5. When kings live in splendor and luxury and irrespon-
sibility to moral laws, maintaining vast, varied and costly
establishments, the people must groan under onerous taxa-
tion and servitude until revolution comes to paint hell on
the sky.
6. Men professing themselves to be wise become fools
(See Romans i : 22 ; I Cor. i : 18-29).
QUESTIONS
1. At what period of his life does Solomon fall away from
Jehovah ?
2. What motto by himself would serve as a heading for his fall?
3. How does he himself describe an old age weakened and made
miserable by sin?
814 THE HEBREW MONARCHY
4. What the occasion of his fall?
5. How did these women lead him astray?
6. Of what particulars did his sin consist?
7. Particularize his sin against Jehovah.
8. Particularize his sin against the charter of the kingdom.
9. Particularize his sin against the sanctity of the Mosaic mar-
riage-law.
TO. What parallel to Solomon, in his sin, in modern history?
11. How did Solomon's sin affect Jehovah, and what penalties
did He denounce?
12. What facts show the sweeping and far-reaching consequences
of Solomon's fall?
13. How do Arminians answer the question: Was Solomon's
ppo'stasy total and final, and is he not a lost soul, and what the
Biblical reasons for dissent from this interpretation?
14. What great lessons from Solomon's fall?
15. How do you reconcile I Kings 11:3 and Canticles 6:8?
DATE DUE
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