The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Samuel — Section 11

the reference here to a II certain man," whose life was chiefly spent during the era covered by the latter part of the Dook of Judges, so generally connecting links may be found. II. The CONSERVATION AND DISCIPLINE OF THE CHOSEN RACE are subservient to the development of the Divine purpose in Christ. History is the basis of revelation. Man is not to be saved by abstract truth, but by an historical Christ. The historical Christ is to appear in the "fulness of time," not from the skies, but from a human line well authenticated. Human factors are the transitory element in the Divine anfolding of salvation in Christ. That God should use men, during a long succes- sion of ages, as the channel through which his mercy should embrace all the world, is as natural and reasonable as that he should perfect his will in the beautiful order of the earth by a long series of changes in crude material elements. God did not make imp~rfect men perfect in order to. use them ; but showed his wisdom in training and holdmg: together the chosen race Just as they were. Degenerate as they were during the penod of the Judges, they were not cut off for ever, but chastened and quickened. Thus the process was continued, until the purpose was ripe for the appearing of the Christ, and his proper identification, by the combination of history and prophecy. III. The FORM AND DEGREE OF REVELATION vouchsafed to an age are largely de- pendent on the ideas and moral character previously attained to. Man at first entered on life de,oid of ancestral literature; and so Adam's descendants, in succeeding ag·es, inherited less of knowledge and experience in proportion as they were nearer to the founder of the race. It is not wise to import our modern ideas into the minds of those who, in the days of Jacob, Moses, and the Judges, had not been fashioned by our inheritance of knowledge. The devout men and women of Elkanah's time, hav- ing -acquired knowledge of the existence of hosts of intelligent beings, took a wider conception of God's sovereignty (vers. 3, 11) than was possible to men of an earlier age. God conveyed truth in so far as men were able to bear it. It would be as unnatural for Isaiah's lofty teachings to follow at once on the scanty illumination of the era of the Judges, as for philosophical conceptions to be set before children. Divine wisdom shines through the graduated teaching of Israel's history (Matt. xix. 7, 8). IV. The EDOCATION OF A PEOPLE, with ulterior view to the world's instruction, by pro,isional, not final truth, necessitates eras of transition. All through the ages God was educating a race for the benefit of the world; and, as education means steady development, widening vision, the elements of things would form the staple of early teaching. Times came when a new feature had to be introduced, and early arrangements to give place to something more suited to the wider truth to be taught. The occasional vision and message, suited to patriarchal life, were followed by the systematic symbolism and rigid rules appropriate to national consolidation under Moses. The casual illumination of the Judgeship, also, yields to the more steady teaching and guidance of the prophetic schools inaugurated by Samuel. Later on, the early dawn of the prophetic ages gives place to the "dayspring" which reveals ;;he Sun of righteousness. As in nature, so in• revelation, stage succeeds stage ; transitions are according to law. V. The INSTRIDIIENTS FOR EFFECTING A TRANSITION are duly chosen, and are 1ilently, unconsciously prepared for their work. The world little knew_ of th1 germinal Divine purpose working out in an obscure home of Mount Ephraim ; not did the "certain man '' know how the conflicting elements in his home were being graciously over-ruled to the development of a piety not surpassed in Old Testament history, and the sending forth of o~e y,ho should be a blessed forerunner of One greater still. Germs of future good he m undreamed-of places and persons. Out of the vast storehouse of the universe the all-gracious God is constantly preparing some new channel of good to his creatures. In the scattered villages and towns of the land there are being nurtured, unconsciously, the lives that in days hence shall be foremost in the Redeemer's host. 11 Little Bethlehem," and the lowly Joseph and Mary, were in reserve for the greatest of events. Any new advances t? be made by the Church in the future are sure to be provided for by chosen men, possibly unknown to the world, and silently trained by Providence for their work. VJ. P.KBSONS 1 PLACES1 AND EVENTS, IN TBEM8ELVES ODSCURE1 DECOME IMPORTAN1' ·CII. I. 1-8.] THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL. 5