Hours with the Bible : or, The Scriptures in the light of modern discovery and knowledge . on of the theocratic kinof tothe will of Jehovah as revealed by His representative,and one who thus violated it was unfit for the oflSce ofking in Israel. No excuses of Saul availed. It was aquestion not of detail but of principle. He had acted THE FIRST HEBREW KING. 101 as if independent, instead of bearing himself humbly^ asthe vicegerent of God. With no adequate sense of hisobligations, he had set mere ritual observances above theessence of the Divine law. To use SamuePs words at alater time, he had f
Hours with the Bible : or, The Scriptures in the light of modern discovery and knowledge . on of the theocratic kinof tothe will of Jehovah as revealed by His representative,and one who thus violated it was unfit for the oflSce ofking in Israel. No excuses of Saul availed. It was aquestion not of detail but of principle. He had acted THE FIRST HEBREW KING. 101 as if independent, instead of bearing himself humbly^ asthe vicegerent of God. With no adequate sense of hisobligations, he had set mere ritual observances above theessence of the Divine law. To use SamuePs words at alater time, he had fancied that sacrifice was more thanobedience, and the fat of rams more than hearkening toGods word.^^ He had broken the fundamental law bywhich he held his high office. It was impossible thathis kingdom should continue. To his dismay, Samuel,as the representative of the God thus offended, announcedthat he could no longer recognise him, and returned atonce from Gilgal to Gibeah. He had shown himself tohave no real faith in God—the first requirement in aking of Israel. 1 1 Sam. XV. CHAPTER V. THE EEJECTED OF GOD. AT once distressed and openly discredited before hispeople by Samuel^s retirement from Gilgal, Saulmade bis way by some roundabout track to Gibeab/where he pitched his tent under a pomegranate treeby ^ the precipice ^ with the remnant of his force. Itnumbered only 600 men^ but these were necessarily thebravest.^ So small a band_, however^ seemed incapable ofopposing the strong Philistine army, though the remem-brance of Gideon^s story might have cheered both themand their leaders. But Saul and Jonathan, for the timeat least, forgot this. There seemed no hope for theircountry, and the thought filled them with the bitterestdejection, which expressed itself with true Orientalsensibility in loud weeping.* They alone had swords;their followers had only such rude weapons as clubs andgoads.^ Worst of all, Samuels leaving had deprivedthem of the means of consulting God, a
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectbible, bookyear1881
