PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Expositor's Bible: The First Book of Samuel
Blaikie, William Garden · 133,302 words · 174 reading sections
The First Book Of Samuel.
Produced by Marcia Brooks, Colin Bell, Nigel Blower and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) [Transcriber's Note: _Italic_ words have been enclosed in underscores. As the oe ligature c…
413 wordsSECTION 2_Hannah'S Trial And Trust._
1 SAMUEL i 1-18. The prophet Samuel, like the book which bears his name, comes in as a connecting link between the Judges and the Kings of Israel. He belonged to a transition period. It was appointed to him to pilot the nation between two stages of its history: from a republic to a monarchy; from a condition of somewh…
719 wordsSECTION 3_Hannah'S Trial And Trust._
The home in which Samuel is born has some points of quiet interest about it; but these are marred by serious defects. It is a religious household, at least in the sense that the outward duties of religion are carefully attended to; but the moral tone is defective. First, there is that radical blemish--want of unity. No…
791 wordsSECTION 4_Hannah'S Trial And Trust._
In many cases home affords a refuge from our trials, but in this case home was the very scene of the trial. There is another refuge from trial, which is very grateful to devout hearts--the house of God and the exercises of public worship. A member of Hannah's race, who was afterwards to pass through many a trial, was a…
706 wordsSECTION 5_Hannah'S Trial And Trust._
If the heart of Peninnah was actuated by this infernal desire to make her neighbour fret, it need not surprise us that she chose the most solemn season of religious worship to gratify her desire. What could religion be to such a one but a form? What communion could she have, or care to have, with God? How could she rea…
659 wordsSECTION 6_Hannah'S Trial And Trust._
Behold Hannah, then, overwhelmed with distress, in "the temple of the Lord" (as His house at Shiloh was called), transacting solemnly with God. "She vowed a vow." She entered into a transaction with God, as really and as directly as one man transacts with another. It is this directness and distinctness of dealing with …
760 wordsSECTION 7_Hannah'S Faith Rewarded._
But let those who profess to be Christ's see that they are consistent here. A fretful, complaining Christian is a contradiction in terms. How unlike to Christ! How forgetful such a one is of the grand argument, "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give …
696 wordsSECTION 8_Hannah'S Faith Rewarded._
But to come more particularly to what is recorded in the text. 1. We notice, first, the fact of the answer to prayer. The answer was prompt, clear, explicit. It is an important question, Why are some prayers answered and not others? Many a good man and woman feel it to be the greatest trial that their prayers for defi…
799 wordsSECTION 9_Hannah'S Faith Rewarded._
2. The next point is the name given by Hannah to her son. The name Samuel, in its literal import, does not mean "asked of the Lord," but "heard of the Lord." The reason assigned by Hannah for giving this name to her son is not an explanation of the word, but a reference to the circumstances. In point of fact, "heard of…
945 wordsSECTION 10_Hannah'S Faith Rewarded._
4. Elkanah's offering at Shiloh. When Elkanah heard his wife's plan with reference to Samuel, he simply acquiesced, bade her remain at Shiloh, "only the Lord establish His word." What word? Literally, the Lord had spoken no word about Samuel, unless the word of Eli to Hannah "The God of Israel grant thee thy petition t…
693 wordsSECTION 11_Hannah'S Faith Rewarded._
It is interesting to remark that no word of Eli's is introduced. This Nazarite child is accepted for the perpetual service of God at once and without remark. No remonstrance is made on the score of his tender years. No doubt is insinuated as to how he may turn out. If Samuel's family was a Levitical one, he would have …
519 wordsSECTION 12_Hannah'S Song Of Thanksgiving._
1 SAMUEL ii. 1-10. The emotion that filled Hannah's breast after she had granted Samuel to the Lord, and left him settled at Shiloh, was one of triumphant joy. In her song we see no trace of depression, like that of a bereaved and desolate mother. Some may be disposed to think less of Hannah on this account; they may …
692 wordsSECTION 13_Hannah'S Song Of Thanksgiving._
When we examine the substance of the song more carefully, we find that Hannah derives her joy from four things about God:--1. His nature (vv. 2-3); 2. His providential government (vv. 4-8); 3. His most gracious treatment of His saints (v. 9); 4. The glorious destiny of the kingdom of His anointed. 1. In the second and…
1,107 wordsSECTION 14_Hannah'S Song Of Thanksgiving._
When we turn to the song of the Virgin we find the same strain--"He hath showed strength with His arm, He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty…
986 wordsSECTION 15_Hannah'S Song Of Thanksgiving._
In the spiritual sense there is no more important ingredient of character in God's sight than the sense of emptiness, and the conviction that all goodness, all strength, all blessing must come from God. The heart, thus emptied, is prepared to welcome the grace that is offered to supply its needs. Air rushes into an exh…
684 wordsSECTION 16_Eli'S House._
1 SAMUEL ii. 11-36. The notices of little Samuel, that alternate in this passage with the sad accounts of Eli and his house, are like the green spots that vary the dull stretches of sand in a desert; or like the little bits of blue sky that charm your eye when the firmament is darkened by a storm. First we are told ho…
1,172 wordsSECTION 17_Eli'S House._
And if such a condition of things is fatal to religion, it is fatal to morality too. Men are but too ready by nature to play loose with conscience. But when the religious heads of the nation are seen at once robbing man and robbing God, and when this is done apparently with impunity, it seems foolish to ordinary men to…
715 wordsSECTION 18_Eli'S House._
For what were the interests of his sons compared with the credit of the national worship? What mattered it that the sudden stroke would fall on them with startling violence? If it did not lead to their repentance and salvation it would at least save the national religion from degradation, and it would thus bring benefi…
859 wordsSECTION 19_Eli'S House._
3. But it is time we should look at the message brought to Eli by the man of God. In that message Eli was first reminded of the gracious kindness shown to the house of Aaron in their being entrusted with the priesthood, and in their having an honourable provision secured for them. Next he is asked why he trampled on Go…
860 wordsSECTION 20_Samuel'S Vision._
1 SAMUEL iii. It is evident that Samuel must have taken very kindly to the duties of the sanctuary. He was manifestly one of those who are sanctified from infancy, and whose hearts go from the first with sacred duties. There were no wayward impulses to subdue, no hankerings after worldly freedom and worldly enjoyment;…
862 wordsSECTION 21_Samuel'S Vision._
Both Eli and Samuel sleep within the precincts of the tabernacle. Not, however, in the sanctuary itself, but in one of those buildings that opened into its courts, which were erected for the accommodation of the priests and Levites. Eli's sight was failing him, and perhaps the care of the lamp as well as the door was e…
658 wordsSECTION 22_Samuel'S Vision._
2. We proceed now to the message itself, and Samuel's reception of it. It is substantially a repetition of what God had already communicated to Eli by the man of God a few years before; only it is more peremptory, and the bearing of it is more fixed and rigid. When God denounced His judgment on Eli's house by the proph…
793 wordsSECTION 23_Samuel'S Vision._
3. And now we go on to the meeting of Eli and Samuel. Samuel is in no haste to communicate to Eli the painful message he has received. He has not been required to do it, and he lies till the morning, awake we may believe, but staggered and dismayed. As usual he goes to open the doors of God's house. And then it is that…
915 wordsSECTION 24_Samuel'S Vision._
4. Samuel is now openly known to be the prophet of the Lord. "Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground." Little didst thou think, Hannah, some twenty years ago, that the child thou didst then ask of the Lord would ere long supersede the high priest who showed so little ta…
325 wordsSECTION 25_The Ark Of God Taken By The Philistines._
1 SAMUEL iv. We are liable to form an erroneous impression of the connection of Samuel with the transactions of this chapter, in consequence of a clause which ought to belong to the last chapter, being placed, in the Authorized Version, at the beginning of this. The clause "And the word of Samuel came to all Israel" b…
1,096 wordsSECTION 26_The Ark Of God Taken By The Philistines._
Could anything show more clearly the unspiritual tendencies of the human mind in its conceptions of God, and of the kind of worship He should receive? The idea of God as the living God is strangely foreign to the human heart. To think of God as one who has a will and purpose of His own, and who will never give His coun…
800 wordsSECTION 27_The Ark Of God Taken By The Philistines._
2. And now the battle rages. The hope of misguided Israel turns out an illusion. They find, to their consternation, that the symbol does not carry the reality. It pleases God to allow the ark with which His name is so intimately associated to be seized by the enemy. The Philistines carry everything before them. The ark…
943 wordsSECTION 28_The Ark Of God Taken By The Philistines._
"And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died; for he was an old man and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years." This was calamity the fifth; but even yet the list was not exhausted. "His daughter-in-…
640 wordsSECTION 29_The Ark Among The Philistines._
1 SAMUEL v., vi. Although the history in Samuel is silent as to the doings of the Philistines immediately after their great victory over Israel, yet we learn from other parts of the Bible (Psalm lxxviii. 60-64; Jeremiah vii. 12, xxvi. 9) that they proceeded to Shiloh, massacred the priests, wrecked the city, and left …
758 wordsSECTION 30_The Ark Among The Philistines._
1. First of all, the ark is carried to Ashdod, where stood the great temple of their God, Dagon. It is placed within the precincts of the temple, in some place of subordination, doubtless, to the place of the idol. Perhaps the expectation of the Philistines was that in the exercise of his supernatural might their god w…
798 wordsSECTION 31_The Ark Among The Philistines._
4. Next, as to the manner in which the ark was to be sent away. A new cart was to be made, and two milch cows which had never been in harness before were to be fastened to the cart. This was to be out of respect to the God of Israel; new things were counted more honourable, as our Lord rode on a colt "whereon never man…
987 wordsSECTION 32_The Ark Among The Philistines._
5. And now the ark has reached Bethshemesh, in the tribe of Judah. The lords of the Philistines have followed it, watching it, as Miriam watched her infant brother on the Nile, to see what would become of it. Nor do they turn back till they have seen the men of Bethshemesh welcome it, till they have seen the Levites ta…
696 wordsSECTION 33_The Ark Among The Philistines._
The prying men of Bethshemesh have had their counterparts many a time in more recent days. Many men, with strong theological proclivities, have evinced a strong desire to pry into the "secret things which belong to the Lord our God." Foreknowledge, election, free will, sin's punishment--men have often forgot that there…
394 wordsSECTION 34_Repentance And Revival._
1 SAMUEL vii. 1-9. With the men of Bethshemesh the presence of the ark had become the same terror as it had been successively at Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron. Instead of the savour of life to life, it had proved a savour of death to death. Instead of a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, it had become a stone of stumbling …
690 wordsSECTION 35_Repentance And Revival._
There are two great services for God and for Israel in which we find Samuel engaged in the first nine verses of this chapter: 1. In exhorting and directing them with a view to bring them into a right state before God. 2. This being accomplished, in praying for them in their time of trouble, and obtaining Divine help wh…
698 wordsSECTION 36_Repentance And Revival._
"Return, O holy Dove, return, Sweet Messenger of rest! I hate the sins that made Thee mourn And drove Thee from my breast." Then the first steps towards revival and communion must be the forsaking of these sins, and of ways of life that prepare the way for them. The sorrow for sin that is working in the conscience …
727 wordsSECTION 37_Repentance And Revival._
It is important to mark the stress which is laid here on the _public assembly_ of the people. Some might say would it not have answered the same end if the people had humbled themselves apart--the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart, every family apart, and their wives apart, as in the great mourni…
699 wordsSECTION 38_Repentance And Revival._
With this request Samuel most readily complies. But first he offers a sucking lamb as a whole burnt-offering to the Lord, and only after this are we told that "Samuel cried unto the Lord, and the Lord heard him." The lesson is supremely important. When sinners approach God to entreat His favour, it must be by the new …
602 wordsSECTION 39_National Deliverance--The Philistines Subdued._
1 SAMUEL vii. 10-17. It must have been with feelings very different from those of their last encounter, when the ark of God was carried into the battle, that the host of Israel now faced the Philistine army near Mizpeh. Then they had only the symbol of God's gracious presence, now they had the reality. Then their spir…
787 wordsSECTION 40_National Deliverance--The Philistines Subdued._
Let us apply this view to the matter of prayer. All true prayer is the fruit of the Holy Spirit working in the human soul. All the prayer that God answers is prayer that God has inspired. The prayer of Samuel was prayer which God had inspired. What more reasonable than that in the great plan of providence there should …
842 wordsSECTION 41_National Deliverance--The Philistines Subdued._
The impression thus made on the enemies of Israel corresponds in some degree to the moral influence which God-fearing men sometimes have on an otherwise godless community. The picture in the Song of Solomon--"Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and _terrible as an army with…
847 wordsSECTION 42_National Deliverance--The Philistines Subdued._
Happy they who, full of faith in the faithfulness and love of God, can take a similar view of His dealings! Happy they who, when special mercies come, deem the occasion worthy to be commemorated by some special memorial, but who can embrace their whole life in the grateful commemoration, and bracket joys and sorrows al…
658 wordsSECTION 43_National Deliverance--The Philistines Subdued._
In this way Samuel spent his life like Him whose type he was, "always about his Father's business." An unselfish man, having no interests of his own, full of zeal for the service of God and the public welfare; possibly too little at home, taking too little charge of his children, and thus at last in the painful positio…
309 wordsSECTION 44_The People Demand A King._
1 SAMUEL viii. Whatever impression the "Ebenezer" of Samuel may have produced at the time, it passed away with the lapse of years. The feeling that, in sympathy with Samuel, had recognized so cordially at that time the unbroken help of Jehovah from the very beginning, waxed old and vanished away. The help of Jehovah w…
831 wordsSECTION 45_The People Demand A King._
But the lesson of the text is rather for those who have the favour and blessing of God, but are not content, and still crave worldly things. You are in covenant with God. He has redeemed you, not with corruptible things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. You are now sons of God, and it doth…
704 wordsSECTION 46_The People Demand A King._
But in the exercise of that admirable habit which he had learned so thoroughly, Samuel took the matter straight to the Lord. And even if no articulate response had been made to his prayer, the effect of this could not but have been great and important. The very act of going into God's presence was fitted to change, in …
880 wordsSECTION 47_The People Demand A King._
What a contrast there was between this exacting king, and the true King, the King that in the fulness of the time was to come to His people, meek and having salvation, riding upon the foal of an ass! If there be anything more than another that makes this King glorious, it is His giving nature. "The Son of God," says th…
888 wordsSECTION 48_Saul Brought To Samuel._
Let the young especially ponder these things. To them it often seems a terrible thing to resist the general voice, and hold by conscience and duty. To confess Christ among a school of despisers, is often like martyrdom. But think! What is it to _deny_ Christ? Can that bring any peace or satisfaction to those who know H…
731 wordsSECTION 49_Saul Brought To Samuel._
God having given the people permission to appoint a king, that king has now to be found. What kind of person must the first king be--the first to supersede the old rule of the Divinely-inspired judges, the first to fulfil the cravings of the people, the first to guide the nation which had been appointed by God to stand…
938 wordsSECTION 50_Saul Brought To Samuel._
But in these high qualities, Saul seems to have been altogether wanting. For though he was not selfish and self-indulgent at first, though he readily obeyed his father in going to search for the strayed asses, he had no deep root of unselfishness in his nature, and by-and-bye, in the hour of temptation, the cloven foot…
683 wordsSECTION 51_Saul Brought To Samuel._
At last, when they came to the land of Zuph, they had been away so long that Saul thought it necessary to return, lest his father should think that some evil had befallen them. But the servant had another string to his bow. Though Saul was not familiar with the name or the character of Samuel, his servant was. What God…
737 wordsSECTION 52_Saul Brought To Samuel._
From this part of the narrative we may derive two great lessons, the one with reference to God, and the other with reference to man. First, as it regards God, we cannot but see how silently, secretly, often slowly, yet surely, He accomplishes His purposes. There are certain rivers in nature that flow so gently, that w…
607 wordsSECTION 53_First Meeting Of Samuel And Saul._
1 SAMUEL ix. 15-27. The meeting between Samuel and Saul was preceded by previous meetings between Samuel and God. God had prepared the prophet for his visit from the future king of Israel, and the first thing brought before us in these verses is the communication on this subject which had been made to the prophet a da…
732 wordsSECTION 54_First Meeting Of Samuel And Saul._
The communication that God had made to Samuel was, that on the following day He would send to him the man whom he was to anoint as captain over Israel, that he might save them from the Philistines; for He had looked upon His people, because their cry was come up to Him. There is an apparent inconsistency here with what…
873 wordsSECTION 55_First Meeting Of Samuel And Saul._
The sacrifice next engages the attention of all. Samuel's first meeting with Saul takes place over the symbol of expiation, over the sacrifice that shows man to be a sinner, and declares that without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. No doubt the circumstance was very impressive to Samuel, and would be tu…
1,046 wordsSECTION 56_First Meeting Of Samuel And Saul._
The feast is over; Samuel and Saul return to the city, and there, on the housetop, they commune together. The twenty-sixth verse seems to narrate in detail what is summarily contained in the twenty-fifth. After returning from the sacrifice and the feast, they seem to have committed themselves to rest. In the early morn…
710 wordsSECTION 57_First Meeting Of Samuel And Saul._
The good words of Samuel fell not into good ground. He had not in Saul a congenial hearer. Saul was too worldly a man to care for, or appreciate spiritual things. Alas, how often for a similar reason, the best words of the best men fail of their purpose! But how is this ever to be cured? How is the uncongenial heart to…
272 wordsSECTION 58_Saul Anointed By Samuel._
1 SAMUEL x. 1-16. There is a remarkable minuteness of detail in this and other narratives in Samuel, suggesting the authenticity of the narrative, and the authorship of one who was personally connected with the transactions. The historical style of Scripture is very characteristic; sometimes great periods of time are …
891 wordsSECTION 59_Saul Anointed By Samuel._
It is evident that Saul was surprised at the acts of Samuel. We can readily fancy his look of astonishment after the venerable prophet had given him the kiss of homage,--the searching gaze that asked, "What do you mean by that?" Samuel was ready with his answer: "Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be capt…
734 wordsSECTION 60_Saul Anointed By Samuel._
But mingling with this, there must have been another, and perhaps deeper, emotion at work in Saul's bosom. He had been brought into near contact with the Supernatural. The thought of the Infinite Power that ordains and governs all had been stirred very vividly within him. The three tokens of Divine ordination met with …
671 wordsSource & rights
Public domain in the USA; original historical text digitized by Project Gutenberg.
Project Gutenberg source record →
Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.