CHAP. XIII. The Death of Heli. The loss and return of the Ark. It was not long before the threatened vengeance fell upon Heli and the people who shared his neglect of the will of God. The Philistines, their old foes, attacked them, and routed them in battle. The people, however, instead of attributing their defeat to the anger of God, superstitiously believed that it was because the ark of the covenant had not been carried into the fight that they had fallen before the swords of the Philistines. They went, therefore, to Silo, where the tabernacle was then fixed, and took the ark and carried it into their camp, and again attacked their enemies. But the device profited them nothing; they were routed with terrible slaughter; Heli's sons were slain upon the field of battle; and the ark of God itself fell into the hands of the Philistines. And when the tidings of this terrible chastisement reached the aged priest and judge, who had now ruled Israel for forty years, he fell backwards from his seat upon the ground, broke his neck, and died upon the spot. The Philistines took the ark, and in triumph placed it in the temple of their idol-god Dagon, by the side of the image which they worshipped, in the town of Azotus. The following morning, when they entered the temple, they found the image of Dagon lying upon the ground before the ark of the true God, with the head and hands broken off, and the stump alone remaining. Terrible plagues also afflicted the inhabitants of Azotus and of Accaron, a place to which the ark was sent by the people of Azotus in their terror. For seven months, however, the idolaters persisted in keeping possession of the sacred treasure. At last, groaning under the chastisements which God sent upon them, they returned the ark to the Israelites, with offerings of gold from every one of the chief cities of Philistia. At Bethsames, the Israelites received the ark with rejoicings; but, forgetting the reverence due to it, they irreverently gazed into it in crowds, and Almighty God, in His wrath, smote them with sudden death in such numbers, that 50,000 of them perished. Samuel now assumed the government of his countrymen as their judge, and induced them to put away their idolatrous practices, and for many years under his wise guidance the land had rest, and regained the favour of God. CHAP. XIV. The people desire a King. The anointing of Saul. WHEN Samuel grew old, the people began to be weary of the government under which they had so long prospered, and desired him to give them a king, after the pattern of the idolatrous nations around them. They were not content to be under the sovereignty of Almighty God alone, but trusted that a sovereign prince, such as those who ruled their neighbours, would be a better protector than the Lord of hosts and His deputies, the judges who had governed them from the days of Moses until now. Samuel himself would not listen to their entreaties, and set before them the tyranny and oppression which would be practised upon them by any man holding the absolute power of a monarch, and warned them that if they chose an earthly protector they must lose the guardianship of their Lord in heaven. Still, bent upon being like the heathen, they shut their ears to Samuel's advice, and the prophet laid their demands before the Lord in prayer; and God granted their prayer, not in mercy, but in anger, and gave to Samuel the necessary directions for anointing the man whom He chose to be the new sovereign of his fellow-countrymen. The chosen monarch was Saul the son of Cis, of the tribe of Benjamin, a man of noble appearance and great personal stature, being a head and shoulders taller than ordinary men. This man was about this time travelling in search of some asses, belonging to his father, which had strayed, and, directed by Divine Providence, he came to Samuel's house. There the prophet took a vial of oil, and poured it on his head, declaring him to be chosen by God to be the king of Israel. He also gave him a token to shew that he was guided by the Spirit of God in thus making him king, by foretelling him that on his return he should be met at a certain spot by two men, who would announce that the asses he sought were found; and that at Gabaa he should be met by a company of prophets, or persons whose office it was to sing hymns and praises to God, coming towards him with songs and instruments of music. And thus it fell out. Saul met the prophets, and joined their band, to the surprise of all who saw him, so that they exclaimed, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" and he united with them in their songs and praises, and then returned to his father's house. : Then Samuel called together the people to the Lord in Maspha: and he said to the children of Israel: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all the kings who afflicted you. But you this day have rejected your God, who alone hath saved you out of all evils and your your tribulations and you have said: Nay: but set a king over us. Now therefore stand before the Lord by your tribes, and by your families. And Samuel brought to him all the tribes of Israel: and the lot fell on the tribe of Benjamin. And he brought the tribe of Benjamin and the kindreds thereof: and the lot fell upon the kindred of Metri, and it came to Saul the son of Cis. They sought him therefore, and he was not found. And after this they consulted the Lord whether he would come thither. And the Lord answered: Behold, he is hidden at home. And they ran and fetched him thence: and he stood in the midst of the people: and he was higher than any of the people from the shoulders and upward. And Samuel said to all the people: Surely you see him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people. And all the people cried and said: God save the king. And Samuel told the people the law of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord and Samuel sent away all the people, every one to his own house. : BOOK IV. THE KINGS. CHAP. I. Samuel justified by God before the people. ABOUT a month after the election of Samuel, he was called to lead his subjects against the Ammonites, who invaded the Israelitish territory. He marched against them, defeated them, and the whole country of Israel was filled with rejoicings. It pleased God, however, to make a fresh and awful manifestation, that, notwithstanding the success that attended the arms of the new monarch, the people had sinned in asking for a king, and that their ingratitude to the aged Samuel, under whose government they had so long prospered, was hateful in His eyes. By the instruction of the Almighty, Samuel called the people together, and said to them, Behold, I have hearkened to your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you. And now the king goeth before you: but I am old and grey-headed and my sons are with you having then conversed with you from my youth until this day, behold, here I am. Speak of me before the Lord, and before His anointed, whether I have taken any man's ox or ass: If I have wronged any man, if I have oppressed any man, if I have taken a bribe at any man's hand and I will despise it this day, and will restore it to you. And they said: Thou hast not wronged us, nor oppressed us, nor taken ought at any man's hand. And he said to them: The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found any thing in my hand. And they said: He is witness. And Samuel said to the people: It is the Lord who made Moses and Aaron, and brought : our fathers out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore stand up, that I may plead in judgment against you before the Lord, concerning all the kindness of the Lord, which He hath shewn to you, and to your fathers: How Jacob went into Egypt, and your fathers cried to the Lord and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and brought your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place and they forgot the Lord their God: and He delivered them into the hands of Sisara captain of the army of Hasor, and into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab: and they fought against them. But afterwards they cried to the Lord, and said: We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Baalim and Astaroth: but now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve Thee. And the Lord sent Jerobaal, and Badan, and Jephte, and Samuel, and delivered you from the hand of your enemies round about; and you dwelt securely. But seeing that Naas king of the children of Ammon was come against you, you said to me: Nay, but a king shall reign over us: whereas the Lord your God was your king. Now therefore your king is here, whom you have chosen and desired: behold, the Lord hath given you a king. If you will fear the Lord and serve Him, and hearken to His voice, and not provoke the mouth of the Lord; then shall both you, and the king that reigneth over you, be followers of the Lord your God. But if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord, but will rebel against His words, the hand of the Lord shall be upon you, and upon your fathers. Now then stand, and see this great thing which the Lord will do in your sight. Is it not wheat-harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, and He shall send thunder and rain: and you shall know and see that you yourselves have done a great evil in the sight of the Lord, in desiring a king over you. And Samuel cried unto the Lord: and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day. And all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And all the people said to Samuel: Pray for thy servants to the Lord thy God, that we may not die, |