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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>F I R S T S A M U E L</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. II.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have,
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I. Hannah's song of thanksgiving to God for his favour to her in giving
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her Samuel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:1-10">ver. 1-10</A>.
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II. Their return to their family, with Eli's blessing,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:11,20">ver. 11, 20</A>.
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The increase of their family,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:21">ver. 21</A>.
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Samuel's growth and improvement
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:11,18,21,26">ver. 11, 18, 21, 26</A>),
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and the care Hannah took to clothe him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:19">ver. 19</A>.
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III. The great wickedness of Eli's sons,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:12-17,22">ver. 12-17, 22</A>.
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IV. The over-mild reproof that Eli gave them for it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:23-25">ver. 23-25</A>.
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V. The justly dreadful message God sent him by a prophet, threatening
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the ruin of his family for the wickedness of his sons,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:27-36">ver. 27-36</A>.</P>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Hannah's Song.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1137.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>,
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mine horn is exalted in the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: my mouth is enlarged over mine
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enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.
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2 <I>There is</I> none holy as the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: for <I>there is</I> none beside
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thee: neither <I>is there</I> any rock like our God.
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3 Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let <I>not</I> arrogancy come
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out of your mouth: for the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I> a God of knowledge, and by
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him actions are weighed.
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4 The bows of the mighty men <I>are</I> broken, and they that
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stumbled are girded with strength.
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5 <I>They that were</I> full have hired out themselves for bread;
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and <I>they that were</I> hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born
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seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
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6 The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the
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grave, and bringeth up.
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7 The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and
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lifteth up.
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8 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, <I>and</I> lifteth up the
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beggar from the dunghill, to set <I>them</I> among princes, and to
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make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the
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earth <I>are</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>'s, and he hath set the world upon them.
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9 He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be
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silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.
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10 The adversaries of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall be broken to pieces; out
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of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall judge the
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ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and
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exalt the horn of his anointed.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here Hannah's thanksgiving, dictated, not only by the spirit of
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prayer, but by the spirit of prophecy. Her petition for the mercy she
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desired we had before
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+1:11"><I>ch.</I> i. 11</A>),
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and here we have her return of praise; in both <I>out of the abundance
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of a heart</I> deeply affected (in the former with her own wants, and
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in the latter with God's goodness) <I>her mouth spoke.</I> Observe in
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general,
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1. When she had received mercy from God she owned it, with thankfulness
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to his praise. Not like the nine lepers,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+17:17">Luke xvii. 17</A>.
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Praise is our rent, our tribute. We are unjust if we do not pay it.
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2. The mercy she had received was an answer to prayer, and therefore
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she thought herself especially obliged to give thanks for it. What we
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win by prayer we may wear with comfort, and must wear with praise.
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3. Her thanksgiving is here called a prayer: <I>Hannah prayed;</I> for
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thanksgiving is an essential part of prayer. In every address to God
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we must express a grateful regard to him as our benefactor. Nay, and
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thanksgiving for mercies received shall be accepted as a petition for
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further mercy.
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4. From this particular mercy which she had received from God she takes
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occasion, with an elevated and enlarged heart, to speak glorious things
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of God and of his government of the world for the good of his church.
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Whatever at any time gives rise to our praises in this manner they
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should be raised.
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5. Her prayer was mental. <I>Her voice was not heard;</I> but in her
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thanksgiving she spoke, that all might hear her. She made her
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supplication <I>with groanings that could not be uttered,</I> but now
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her lips were opened to <I>show forth God's praise.</I>
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6. This thanksgiving is here left upon record for the encouragement of
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those of the weaker sex to attend the throne of grace. God will regard
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their prayers and praises. The virgin Mary's song has great affinity
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with this of Hannah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:46">Luke i. 46</A>.
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Three things we have in this thanksgiving:--</P>
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<P>
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I. Hannah's triumph in God, in his glorious perfections, and the great
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things he had done for her,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:1-3"><I>v.</I> 1-3</A>.
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Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. What great things she says of God. She takes little notice of the
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particular mercy she was now rejoicing in, does not commend Samuel for
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the prettiest child, the most toward and sensible for his age that she
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ever saw, as fond parents are too apt to do. No, she overlooks the
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gift, and praises the giver; whereas most forget the giver and fasten
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only on the gift. Every stream should lead us to the fountain; and the
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favours we receive from God should raise our admiration of the infinite
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perfections there are in God. There may be other Samuels, but no other
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Jehovah. <I>There is none beside thee.</I> Note, God is to be praised
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as a peerless being, and of unparalleled perfection. This glory is due
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unto his name, to own not only that there is <I>none like him, but that
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there is none besides him.</I> All others were pretenders,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+18:31">Ps. xviii. 31</A>.
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Four of God's glorious attributes Hannah here celebrates the glory
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of:--
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(1.) His unspotted purity. This is that attribute which is most praised
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in the upper world, by those that always behold his face,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:3,Re+4:8">Isa. vi. 3; Rev. iv. 8</A>.
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When Israel triumphed over the Egyptians God was praised <I>as glorious
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in holiness,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+15:11">Exod. xv. 11</A>.
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So here, in Hannah's triumph, <I>There is none holy as the Lord.</I> It
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is the rectitude of his nature, his infinite agreement with himself,
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and the equity of his government and judgment in all the
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administrations of both. At the remembrance of this we ought to give
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thanks.
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(2.) His almighty power: <I>Neither is there any rock</I> (or <I>any
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strength,</I> for so the word is sometimes rendered) <I>like our
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God.</I> Hannah had experienced a mighty support by staying herself
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upon him, and therefore speaks as she had found, and seems to refer to
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that of Moses,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:31">Deut. xxxii. 31</A>.
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(3.) His unsearchable wisdom: <I>The Lord,</I> the Judge of all, <I>is
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a God of knowledge;</I> he clearly and perfectly sees into the
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character of every person and the merits of every cause, and he gives
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knowledge and understanding to those that seek them of him.
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(4.) His unerring justice: <I>By him actions are weighed.</I> His own
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are so, in his eternal counsels; the actions of the children of men are
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so, in the balances of his judgment, so that he will <I>render to every
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man according to his work,</I> and is not mistaken in what any man is
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or does.</P>
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<P>
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2. How she solaces herself in these things. What we give God the glory
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of we may take the comfort of. Hannah does so,
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(1.) In holy joy: <I>My heart rejoiceth in the Lord;</I> not so much in
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her son as in her God; he is to be the gladness of our joy
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+43:4">Ps. xliii. 4</A>),
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and our joy must not terminate in any thing short of him: "<I>I rejoice
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in thy salvation;</I> not only in this particular favour to me, but in
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the salvation of thy people Israel, those salvations especially which
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this child will be an instrument of, and that, above all, by Christ,
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which those are but the types of."
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(2.) In holy triumph: "<I>My horn is exalted;</I> not only is my
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reputation saved by my having a son, but greatly raised by having such
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a son." We read of some of the singers whom David appointed to lift up
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the horn, an instrument of music, in praising God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ch+25:5">1 Chron. xxv. 5</A>),
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so that, <I>My horn is exalted</I> means this, "My praises are very
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much elevated to an unusual strain." <I>Exalted in the Lord;</I> God is
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to have the honour of all our exaltations, and in him must we triumph.
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<I>My mouth is enlarged,</I> that is, "Now I have wherewith to answer
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those that reproached me." He that has his quiver full of arrows, his
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house full of children, shall not be ashamed to <I>speak with the enemy
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in the gate,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+127:5">Ps. cxxvii. 5</A>.</P>
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<P>
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3. How she herewith silences those that set up themselves as rivals
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with God and rebels against him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>Talk no more so exceedingly proudly.</I> Let not Peninnah and her
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children upbraid her any more with her confidence in God and praying to
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him: at length she found it not in vain. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+7:10">Mic. vii. 10</A>,
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<I>Then she that is my enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her
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that said, Where is thy God?</I> Or perhaps it was below her to take so
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much notice of Peninnah, and her malice, in this song; but this is
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intended as a check to the insolence of the Philistines, and other
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enemies of God and Israel, that <I>set their mouth against the
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heavens,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:9">Ps. lxxiii. 9</A>.
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"Let this put them to silence and shame; he that has thus judged for me
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against my adversary will judge for his people against all theirs."</P>
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<P>
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II. The notice she takes of the wisdom and sovereignty of the divine
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providence, in its disposals of the affairs of the children of men;
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such are the vicissitudes of them, and such the strange and sudden
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turns and revolutions of them, that it is often found a very short step
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between the height of prosperity and the depth of adversity. <I>God
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has</I> not only <I>set the one over against the other</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+7:14">Eccl. vii. 14</A>),
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but the one very near the other, and no gulf fixed between them, that
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we may <I>rejoice as though we rejoiced not</I> and <I>weep as though
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we wept not.</I></P>
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<P>
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1. The strong are soon weakened and the weak are soon strengthened,
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when God pleases,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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On the one hand, if he speak the word, <I>the bows of the mighty men
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are broken;</I> they are disarmed, disabled to do as they have before
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done and as they have designed to do. Those have been worsted in battle
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who seemed upon all accounts to have the advantage on their side, and
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thought themselves sure of victory. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+46:9,Ps+37:15,17">Ps. xlvi. 9; xxxvii. 15, 17</A>.
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Particular persons are soon weakened by sickness and age, and they find
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that the bow does not long abide in strength; many a mighty man who has
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gloried in his might has found it a deceitful bow, that failed him when
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he trusted to it. On the other hand, if the Lord speak the word, those
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who stumble through weakness, who were so feeble that they could not go
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straight or steady, are <I>girded with strength,</I> in body and mind,
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and are able to bring great things to pass. Those who were weakened by
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sickness return to their vigour
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+33:25">Job xxxiii. 25</A>),
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and those who were brought down by sorrow shall recover their comfort,
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which will <I>confirm the weak hands and the feeble knees,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+35:3">Isa. xxxv. 3</A>.
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Victory turns in favour of that side that was given up for gone, and
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even <I>the lame take the prey,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+33:23">Isa. xxxiii. 23</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. The rich are soon impoverished and the poor strangely enriched on a
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sudden,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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Providence sometimes does so blast men's estates and cross their
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endeavours, and with a fire not blown consume their increase, that
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those who were full (their barns full, and their bags full, their
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<I>houses full of good things,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+22:18">Job xxii. 18</A>,
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and their <I>bellies full of these hidden treasures,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+17:14">Ps. xvii. 14</A>)
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have been reduced to such straits and extremities as to want the
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necessary supports of life, and to <I>hire out themselves for
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bread,</I> and they must dig, since to <I>beg they are ashamed. Riches
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flee away</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+23:5">Prov. xxiii. 5</A>),
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and leave those miserable who, when they had them, placed their
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happiness in them. To those that have been full and free poverty must
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needs be doubly grievous. But, on the other hand, sometimes Providence
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so orders it that <I>those who are hungry cease,</I> that is, cease to
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hire out themselves for bread as they have done. Having, by God's
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blessing on their industry, got beforehand in the world, and enough to
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live upon at ease, <I>they shall hunger no more, not thirst any
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more.</I> This is not to be ascribed to fortune, nor merely to men's
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wisdom or folly. <I>Riches are not to men of understanding, nor favour
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to men of skill</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:11">Eccl. ix. 11</A>),
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nor is it always men's own fault that they become poor, but
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>)
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<I>the Lord maketh some poor and maketh others rich;</I> the
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impoverishing of one is the enriching of another, and it is God's
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|
doing. To some he gives power to get wealth, from others he takes away
|
|
power to keep the wealth they have. Are we poor? God made us poor,
|
|
which is a good reason why we should be content, and reconcile
|
|
ourselves to our condition. Are we rich? God made us rich, which is a
|
|
good reason why we should be thankful, and serve him cheerfully in the
|
|
abundance of good things he gives us. It may be understood of the same
|
|
person; those that were rich God makes poor, and after awhile makes
|
|
rich again, as Job; he gave, he takes away, and then gives again. Let
|
|
not the rich be proud and secure, for God can soon make them poor; let
|
|
not the poor despond and despair, for God can in due time enrich them
|
|
again.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Empty families are replenished and numerous families diminished and
|
|
made few. This is the instance that comes close to the occasion of the
|
|
thanksgiving: <I>The barren hath borne seven,</I> meaning herself, for,
|
|
though at present she had but one son, yet that one being a Nazarite,
|
|
devoted to God and employed in his immediate service, he was to her as
|
|
good as seven. Or it is the language of her faith. Now that she had one
|
|
she hoped for more, and was not disappointed; she had five more
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
so that if we reckon Samuel but for two, as we well may, she has the
|
|
number she promised herself: the <I>barren hath borne seven,</I> while,
|
|
on the other hand, <I>she that hath many children has waxed feeble,</I>
|
|
and hath left bearing. She says no more. Peninnah is now mortified and
|
|
crest-fallen. The tradition of the Jews is that when Hannah bore one
|
|
child Peninnah buried two. There are many instances both of the
|
|
increase of families that were inconsiderable and the extinguishing of
|
|
families that made a figure,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+22:23,Ps+107:38">Job xxii. 23; Ps. cvii. 38</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. God is the sovereign Lord of life and death
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The Lord killeth and maketh alive.</I> Understand it,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Of God's sovereign dominion and universal agency, in the lives and
|
|
deaths of the children of men. He presides in births and burials.
|
|
Whenever any die it is God that directs the arrows of death. <I>The
|
|
Lord killeth.</I> Death is his messenger, strikes whom and when he
|
|
bids; none are brought to the dust but it is he that brings them down,
|
|
for in his hand are the <I>keys of death and the grave,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+1:18">Rev. i. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
Whenever any are born it is he that <I>makes them alive. None knows
|
|
what is the way of the spirit,</I> but this we know, that it comes from
|
|
the <I>Father of spirits.</I> Whenever any are recovered from sickness,
|
|
and delivered from imminent perils, it is God that bringeth up; for
|
|
<I>to him belong the issues from death.</I>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Of the distinction he makes between some and others: <I>He
|
|
killeth</I> some, and <I>maketh,</I> that is, keepeth, others
|
|
<I>alive</I> that were in the same danger (in war, suppose, or
|
|
pestilence), two in a bed together, it may be, one taken by death and
|
|
the other left alive. <I>Even so, Father, because it seemed good in thy
|
|
eyes.</I> Some that were most likely to live are brought down to the
|
|
grave, and others that were as likely to die are brought up; for living
|
|
and dying do not go by likelihoods. God's providences towards some are
|
|
killing, ruining to their comforts, and towards others at the same time
|
|
reviving.
|
|
|
|
(3.) Of the change he makes with one and the same person: <I>He killeth
|
|
and bringeth down to the grave,</I> that is, he brings even to death's
|
|
door, and then revives and raises up, when even life was despaired of
|
|
and a sentence of death received,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+1:8,9">2 Cor. i. 8, 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>He turns to destruction,</I> and then says, <I>Return,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+110:3">Ps. cx. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nothing is too hard for God to do, no, not the quickening of the dead,
|
|
and putting life into dry bones.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. Advancement and abasement are both from him. He brings some low and
|
|
lifts up others
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
humbles the proud and gives grace and honour to the lowly, lays those
|
|
in the dust that would vie with the God above them and trample upon all
|
|
about them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+40:12">Job xl. 12, 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
but lifts up those with his salvation that humble themselves before
|
|
him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:10">Jam. iv. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or it may be understood of the same persons: those whom he had brought
|
|
low, when they are sufficiently humbled, he lifteth up. This is
|
|
enlarged upon,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,</I> a low and mean
|
|
condition, nay, from the dunghill, a base and servile condition,
|
|
loathed, and despised, <I>to set them among princes.</I> See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+113:7,8">Ps. cxiii. 7, 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Promotion comes not by chance, but from the counsel of God, which often
|
|
prefers those that were very unlikely and that men thought very
|
|
unworthy. Joseph and Daniel, Moses and David, were thus strangely
|
|
advanced, from a prison to a palace, from a sheep-hook to a sceptre.
|
|
The princes they are set among may be tempted to disdain them, but God
|
|
can establish the honour which he gives thus surprisingly, and make
|
|
them even to <I>inherit the throne of glory.</I> Let not those whom
|
|
Providence has thus preferred be upbraided with the dust and dunghill
|
|
they are raised out of, for the meaner their beginnings were the more
|
|
they are favoured, and God is glorified, in their advancement, if it be
|
|
by lawful and honourable means.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. A reason is given for all these dispensations which obliges us to
|
|
acquiesce in them, how surprising soever they are: <I>For the pillars
|
|
of the earth are the Lord's.</I>
|
|
|
|
(1.) If we understand this literally, it intimates God's almighty
|
|
power, which cannot be controlled. He upholds the whole creation,
|
|
founded the earth, and still sustains it by the word of his power. What
|
|
cannot he do in the affairs of families and kingdoms, far beyond our
|
|
conception and expectation, <I>who hangs the earth upon nothing?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+26:7">Job xxvi. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
But,
|
|
|
|
(2.) If we understand it figuratively, it intimates his incontestable
|
|
sovereignty, which cannot be disputed. The princes and great ones of
|
|
the earth, the directors of states and governments, are the <I>pillars
|
|
of the earth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+75:3">Ps. lxxv. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
On these hinges the affairs of the world seem to turn, but they are the
|
|
Lord's,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+47:9">Ps. xlvii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
From him they have their power, and therefore he may advance whom he
|
|
pleases; and who may say, <I>What doest thou?</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. A prediction of the preservation and advancement of all God's
|
|
faithful friends, and the destruction of all his and their enemies.
|
|
Having testified her joyful triumph in what God had done, and is doing,
|
|
she concludes with joyful hopes of what he would do,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:9,10"><I>v.</I> 9, 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Pious affections (says bishop Patrick) in those days rose many times to
|
|
the height of prophecy, whereby God continued in that nation his true
|
|
religion, in the midst of their idolatrous inclinations. This prophecy
|
|
may refer,
|
|
|
|
1. More immediately to the government of Israel by Samuel, and by David
|
|
whom he was employed to anoint. The Israelites, God's saints, should be
|
|
protected and delivered; the Philistines, their enemies, should be
|
|
conquered and subdued, and particularly by <I>thunder,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+7:10"><I>ch.</I> vii. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Their dominions should be enlarged, king David strengthened and greatly
|
|
exalted, and Israel (that in the time of the judges had made so small a
|
|
figure and had much ado to subsist) should now shortly become great and
|
|
considerable, and give law to all its neighbours. An extraordinary
|
|
change that was; and the birth of Samuel was, as it were, the dawning
|
|
of that day. But,
|
|
|
|
2. We have reason to think that this prophecy looks further, to the
|
|
kingdom of Christ, and the administration of that kingdom of grace, of
|
|
which she now comes to speak, having spoken so largely of the kingdom
|
|
of providence. And here is the first time that we meet with the name
|
|
<I>Messiah,</I> or <I>his Anointed.</I> The ancient expositors, both
|
|
Jewish and Christian, make it to look beyond David, to the Son of
|
|
David. Glorious things are here spoken of the kingdom of the Mediator,
|
|
both before and since his incarnation; for the method of the
|
|
administration of it, both by the eternal Word and by that Word made
|
|
flesh, is much the same. Concerning that kingdom we are here assured,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That all the loyal subjects of it shall be carefully and
|
|
powerfully protected
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He will keep the feet of his saints.</I> There are a people in the
|
|
world that are God's saints, his select and sanctified ones; and he
|
|
will keep their feet, that is, all that belongs to them shall be under
|
|
his protection, down to their very feet, the lowest part of the body.
|
|
If he will keep their feet, much more their head and hearts. Or he will
|
|
keep their feet, that is, he will secure the ground they stand on, and
|
|
establish their goings; he will set a guard of grace upon their
|
|
affections and actions, that their feet may neither wander out of the
|
|
way nor stumble in the way. When their feet are ready to slip
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:2">Ps. lxxiii. 2</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>his mercy holdeth them up</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+94:18">Ps. xciv. 18</A>)
|
|
|
|
and <I>keepeth them from falling,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:24">Jude 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
While we keep God's ways he will keep our feet. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+37:23,24">Ps. xxxvii. 23, 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That all the powers engaged against it shall not be able to effect
|
|
the ruin of it. By strength shall no man prevail. God's strength is
|
|
engaged for the church; and, while it is so, man's strength shall not
|
|
prevail against it. The church seems destitute of strength, her friends
|
|
few and feeble, but prevalency does not go by human strength,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+33:16">Ps. xxxiii. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
God neither needs it for him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+147:10">Ps. cxlvii. 10</A>)
|
|
|
|
nor dreads it against him.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That all the enemies of it will certainly be broken and brought
|
|
down: <I>The wicked shall be silent in darkness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
They shall be struck both blind and dumb, not be able to see their way
|
|
nor have any thing to say for themselves. Damned sinners are sentenced
|
|
to utter darkness, and in it they will be for ever speechless,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+22:12,13">Matt. xxii. 12, 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
The wicked are called <I>the adversaries of the Lord,</I> and it is
|
|
foretold
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>)
|
|
|
|
that they <I>shall be broken to pieces.</I> Their designs against his
|
|
kingdom among men will all be dashed, and they themselves destroyed;
|
|
how can those speed better that are in arms against Omnipotence? See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:27">Luke xix. 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
God has many ways of doing it, and, rather than fail, from <I>heaven
|
|
shall he thunder upon them,</I> and so, not only put them in terror and
|
|
consternation, but bring them to destruction. Who can stand before
|
|
God's thunderbolts?
|
|
|
|
(4.) That the conquests of this kingdom shall extend themselves to
|
|
distant regions: <I>The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth.</I>
|
|
David's victories and dominions reached far, but the <I>uttermost parts
|
|
of the earth</I> are promised to the Messiah for his <I>possession</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+2:8">Ps. ii. 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
to be either reduced to his golden sceptre or ruined by his iron rod.
|
|
God is Judge of all, and he will judge for his people against his and
|
|
their enemies,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+110:5,6">Ps. cx. 5, 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
(5.) That the power and honour of Messiah the prince shall grow and
|
|
increase more and more: <I>He shall give strength unto his king,</I>
|
|
for the accomplishing of his great undertaking
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:21">Ps. lxxxix. 21</A>,
|
|
|
|
and see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+22:43">Luke xxii. 43</A>),
|
|
|
|
strengthen him to go through the difficulties of his humiliation, and
|
|
in his exaltation he will <I>lift up the head</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+110:7">Ps. cx. 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
lift up the horn, the power and honour, of his <I>anointed,</I> and
|
|
<I>make him higher than the kings of the earth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:27">Ps. lxxxix. 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
This crowns the triumph, and is, more than any thing, the matter of her
|
|
exultation. Her <I>horn is exalted</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>)
|
|
|
|
because she foresees the horn of the Messiah will be so. This secures
|
|
the hope. The subjects of Christ's kingdom will be safe, and the
|
|
enemies of it will be ruined, for the anointed, the Lord Christ, is
|
|
girded with strength, and is able to save and destroy unto the
|
|
uttermost.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa2_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa2_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa2_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa2_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa2_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa2_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa2_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa2_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa2_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa2_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa2_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa2_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa2_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa2_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa2_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa2_26"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Samuel in the Sanctuary; The Wickedness of Eli's Sons.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1130.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>11 And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did
|
|
minister unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> before Eli the priest.
|
|
12 Now the sons of Eli <I>were</I> sons of Belial; they knew not the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
13 And the priests' custom with the people <I>was, that,</I> when
|
|
any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the
|
|
flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his
|
|
hand;
|
|
14 And he struck <I>it</I> into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or
|
|
pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took for
|
|
himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came
|
|
thither.
|
|
15 Also before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came,
|
|
and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the
|
|
priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw.
|
|
16 And <I>if</I> any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn
|
|
the fat presently, and <I>then</I> take <I>as much</I> as thy soul
|
|
desireth; then he would answer him, <I>Nay;</I> but thou shalt give
|
|
<I>it me</I> now: and if not, I will take <I>it</I> by force.
|
|
17 Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: for men abhorred the offering of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
18 But Samuel ministered before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, <I>being</I> a child,
|
|
girded with a linen ephod.
|
|
19 Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought <I>it</I>
|
|
to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to
|
|
offer the yearly sacrifice.
|
|
20 And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
|
|
give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>. And they went unto their own home.
|
|
21 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare
|
|
three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before
|
|
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
22 Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto
|
|
all Israel; and how they lay with the women that assembled <I>at</I>
|
|
the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
|
|
23 And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? for I hear of
|
|
your evil dealings by all this people.
|
|
24 Nay, my sons; for <I>it is</I> no good report that I hear: ye
|
|
make the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>'s people to transgress.
|
|
25 If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him:
|
|
but if a man sin against the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, who shall intreat for him?
|
|
Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their
|
|
father, because the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> would slay them.
|
|
26 And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with
|
|
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and also with men.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In these verses we have the good character and posture of Elkanah's
|
|
family, and the bad character and posture of Eli's family. The account
|
|
of these two is observably interwoven throughout this whole paragraph,
|
|
as if the historian intended to set the one over against the other,
|
|
that they might set off one another. The devotion and good order of
|
|
Elkanah's family aggravated the iniquity of Eli's house; while the
|
|
wickedness of Eli's sons made Samuel's early piety appear the more
|
|
bright and illustrious.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Let us see how well things went in Elkanah's family and how much
|
|
better than formerly.
|
|
|
|
1. Eli dismissed them from the house of the Lord, when they had entered
|
|
their little son there, with a blessing,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
He blessed as one having authority: <I>The Lord give thee</I> more
|
|
children <I>of this woman, for the loan that is lent to the Lord.</I>
|
|
If Hannah had then had many children, it would not have been such a
|
|
generous piece of piety to part with one out of many for the service of
|
|
the tabernacle; but when she had but one, an only one whom she loved,
|
|
her Isaac, to present him to the Lord was such an act of heroic piety
|
|
as should by no means lose its reward. As when Abraham had offered
|
|
Isaac he received the promise of a numerous issue
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+22:16,17">Gen. xxii. 16, 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
so did Hannah, when she had presented Samuel unto the Lord a living
|
|
sacrifice. Note, What is lent to the Lord will certainly be repaid with
|
|
interest, to our unspeakable advantage, and oftentimes in kind. Hannah
|
|
resigns one child to God, and is recompensed with five; for Eli's
|
|
blessing took effect
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>She bore three sons and two daughters.</I> There is nothing lost by
|
|
lending to God or losing for him; it shall be repaid <I>a
|
|
hundred-fold,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+19:29">Matt. xix. 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. They returned to their own habitation. This is twice mentioned,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>,
|
|
|
|
and again
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
It was very pleasant to attend at God's house, to bless him, and to be
|
|
blessed of him. But they have a family at home that must be looked
|
|
after, and thither they return, cheerfully leaving the dear little one
|
|
behind them, knowing they left him in a good place; and it does not
|
|
appear that he cried after them, but was as willing to stay as they
|
|
were to leave him, so soon did he <I>put away childish things</I> and
|
|
behave like a man.
|
|
|
|
3. They kept up their constant attendance at the house of God with
|
|
their <I>yearly sacrifice,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
They did not think that their son's ministering there would excuse
|
|
them, or that that offering must serve instead of other offerings; but,
|
|
having found the benefit of drawing near to God, they would omit no
|
|
appointed season for it, and now they had one loadstone more in Shiloh
|
|
to draw them thither. We may suppose they went thither to see their
|
|
child oftener than once a year, for it was not ten miles from Ramah;
|
|
but their annual visit is taken notice of because then they brought
|
|
their yearly sacrifice, and then Hannah fitted up her son (and some
|
|
think oftener than once a year) with a new suit of clothes, <I>a little
|
|
coat</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>)
|
|
|
|
and every thing belonging to it. She undertook to find him with clothes
|
|
during his apprenticeship at the tabernacle, and took care he should be
|
|
well provided, that he might appear the more decent and sightly in his
|
|
ministration, and to encourage him in his towardly beginnings. Parents
|
|
must take care that their children want nothing that is fit for them,
|
|
whether they are with them or from them; but those that are dutiful and
|
|
hopeful, and minister to the Lord, must be thought worthy of double
|
|
care and kindness.
|
|
|
|
4. The child Samuel did very well. Four separate times he is mentioned
|
|
in these verses, and two things we are told of:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) The service he did to the Lord. He did well indeed, for he
|
|
<I>ministered to the Lord</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:11,18"><I>v.</I> 11, 18</A>)
|
|
|
|
according as his capacity was. He learned his catechism and was
|
|
constant to his devotions, soon learned to read, and took a pleasure in
|
|
the book of the law, and thus he <I>ministered to the Lord.</I> He
|
|
ministered before Eli, that is, under his inspection, and as he ordered
|
|
him, not before Eli's sons; all parties were agreed that they were
|
|
unfit to be his tutors. Perhaps he attended immediately on Eli's
|
|
person, was ready to him to fetch and bring as he had occasion, and
|
|
that is called <I>ministering to the Lord.</I> Some little services
|
|
perhaps he was employed in about the altar, though much under the age
|
|
appointed by the law for the Levites' ministration. He could light a
|
|
candle, or hold a dish, or run on an errand, or shut a door; and,
|
|
because he did this with a pious disposition of mind it is called
|
|
<I>ministering to the Lord,</I> and great notice is taken of it. After
|
|
awhile he did his work so well that Eli appointed that he should
|
|
minister with a <I>linen ephod</I> as the priests did (though he was no
|
|
priest), because he saw that God was with him. Note, Little children
|
|
must learn betimes to <I>minister to the Lord.</I> Parents must train
|
|
them up to it, and God will accept them. Particularly let them learn to
|
|
pay respect to their teachers, as Samuel to Eli. None can begin too
|
|
soon to be religious. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+8:2,Mt+21:15,16">Ps. viii. 2, and Matt. xxi. 15, 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The blessing he received from the Lord: He <I>grew before the
|
|
Lord,</I> as a tender plant
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>grew on</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>)
|
|
|
|
in strength and stature, and especially in wisdom and understanding and
|
|
fitness for business. Note, Those young people that serve God as well
|
|
as they can will obtain grace to improve, that they may serve him
|
|
better. Those that are planted in God's house shall <I>flourish,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+92:13">Ps. xcii. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>He was in favour with the Lord and with man.</I> Note, It is a great
|
|
encouragement to children to be tractable, and virtuous, and good
|
|
betimes, that if they be both God and man will love them. Such children
|
|
are the darlings both of heaven and earth. What is here said of Samuel
|
|
is said of our blessed Saviour, that great example,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+2:52">Luke ii. 52</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Let us now see how ill things went in Eli's family, though seated
|
|
at the very door of the tabernacle. The nearer the church the further
|
|
from God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The abominable wickedness of Eli's sons
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The sons of Eli were sons of Belial.</I> It is emphatically
|
|
expressed. Nothing appears to the contrary but that Eli himself was a
|
|
very good man, and no doubt had educated his sons well, giving them
|
|
good instructions, setting them good examples, and putting up many a
|
|
good prayer for them; and yet, when they grew up, they proved <I>sons
|
|
of Belial,</I> profane wicked men, and arrant rakes: <I>They knew not
|
|
the Lord.</I> They could not but have a notional knowledge of God and
|
|
his law, a form of knowledge
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+2:20">Rom. ii. 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
yet, because their practice was not conformable to it, they are spoken
|
|
of as wholly ignorant of God; they lived as if they knew nothing at all
|
|
of God. Note, Parents cannot give grace to their children, nor does it
|
|
run in the blood. Many that are sincerely pious themselves live to see
|
|
those that come from them notoriously impious and profane; <I>for the
|
|
race is not to the swift.</I> Eli was high priest and judge in Israel.
|
|
His sons were priests by their birth. Their character was sacred and
|
|
honourable, and obliged them, for their reputation-sake, to observe
|
|
decorum. They were resident at the fountain-head both of magistracy and
|
|
ministry, and yet they were <I>sons of Belial,</I> and their honour,
|
|
power, and learning, made them so much the worse. They did not go to
|
|
<I>serve other gods,</I> as those did that lived at a distance from the
|
|
altar, for from the house of God they had their wealth and dignity;
|
|
but, which was worse, they managed the service of God as if he had been
|
|
one of the dunghill deities of the heathen. It is hard to say which
|
|
dishonours God more, idolatry or profaneness, especially the
|
|
profaneness of the priests. Let us see the wickedness of Eli's sons;
|
|
and it is a sad sight.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) They profaned the offerings of the Lord, and made a gain to
|
|
themselves, or rather a gratification of their own luxury, out of them.
|
|
God had provided competently for them out of the sacrifices. <I>The
|
|
offerings of the Lord made by fire</I> were a considerable branch of
|
|
their revenue, but not enough to please them; they served not the God
|
|
of Israel, but their own bellies
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+16:18">Rom. xvi. 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
being such as the prophet calls <I>greedy dogs that can never have
|
|
enough,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+56:11">Isa. lvi. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
[1.] They robbed the offerers, and seized for themselves some of their
|
|
part of the sacrifice of the peace-offerings. The priests had for
|
|
their share the <I>wave-breast</I> and the <I>heave shoulder</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+7:34">Lev. vii. 34</A>),
|
|
|
|
but these did not content them; when the flesh was boiling for the
|
|
offerer to feast upon religiously with his friends, they sent a servant
|
|
with a flesh-hook of three teeth, a trident, and that must be stuck
|
|
into the pot, and whatever that brought up the priest must have
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:13,14"><I>v.</I> 13, 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
and the people, out of their great veneration, suffered this to grow
|
|
into a custom, so that after awhile prescription was pleaded for this
|
|
manifest wrong.
|
|
|
|
[2.] They stepped in before God himself, and encroached upon his right
|
|
too. <I>As if it were a small thing to weary men, they wearied my God
|
|
also,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+7:13">Isa. vii. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Be it observed, to the honour of Israel, that though the people tamely
|
|
yielded to their unwarrantable demands from them, yet they were very
|
|
solicitous that God should not be robbed: <I>Let them not fail to burn
|
|
the fat presently,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let the altar have its due, for that is the main matter. Unless God
|
|
have the fat, they can feast with little comfort upon the flesh. It was
|
|
a shame that the priests should need to be thus admonished by the
|
|
people of their duty; but they regarded not the admonition. The priest
|
|
will be served first, and will take what he thinks fit of the fat too,
|
|
for he is weary of boiled meat, he must have roast, and, in order to
|
|
that, they must give it to him raw; and if the offerer dispute it,
|
|
though not in his own favour (let the priest take what he pleases of
|
|
his part) but in favour of the altar (let them be sure to <I>burn the
|
|
fat</I> first), even the priest's servant had grown so very imperious
|
|
that he would either have it now or take it by force, than which there
|
|
could not be a greater affront to God nor a greater abuse to the
|
|
people. The effect was, <I>First,</I> That God was displeased: <I>The
|
|
sin of the young men was very great before the Lord,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nothing is more provoking to God than the profanation of sacred things,
|
|
and men serving their lusts with the offerings of the Lord.
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> That religion suffered by it: <I>Men abhorred the
|
|
offerings of the Lord.</I> All good men abhorred their management of
|
|
the offerings, and too many insensibly fell into a contempt of the
|
|
offerings themselves for their sakes. It was the people's sin to think
|
|
the worse of God's institutions, but it was the much greater sin of the
|
|
priests that gave them occasion to do so. Nothing brings a greater
|
|
reproach upon religion than ministers' covetousness, sensuality, and
|
|
imperiousness. In the midst of this sad story comes in the repeated
|
|
mention of Samuel's devotion. <I>But Samuel ministered before the
|
|
Lord,</I> as an instance of the power of God's grace, in preserving him
|
|
pure and pious in the midst of this wicked crew; and this helped to
|
|
keep up the sinking credit of the sanctuary in the minds of the people,
|
|
who, when they had said all they could against Eli's sons, could not
|
|
but admire Samuel's seriousness, and speak well of religion for his
|
|
sake.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) They debauched the women that came to worship at the door of the
|
|
tabernacle,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
They had wives of their own, but were like <I>fed horses,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+5:8">Jer. v. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
To have gone to the harlots' houses, the common prostitutes, would have
|
|
been abominable wickedness, but to use the interest which as priests
|
|
they had in those women that had devout dispositions and were
|
|
religiously inclined, and to bring them to commit their wickedness, was
|
|
such horrid impiety as one can scarcely think it possible that men who
|
|
called themselves priests should ever be guilty of. <I>Be astonished, O
|
|
heavens! at this, and tremble, O earth!</I> No words can sufficiently
|
|
express the villany of such practices as these.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The reproof which Eli gave his sons for this their wickedness:
|
|
<I>Eli was very old</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>)
|
|
|
|
and could not himself inspect the service of the tabernacle as he had
|
|
done, but left all to his sons, who, because of the infirmities of his
|
|
age, slighted him, and did what they would. However, he was told of the
|
|
wickedness of his sons, and we may well imagine what a heart-breaking
|
|
it was to him, and how much it added to the burdens of his age; but it
|
|
should seem he did not so much as reprove them till he heard of their
|
|
debauching the women, and then he thought fit to give them a check. Had
|
|
he rebuked them for their greediness and luxury, this might have been
|
|
prevented. Young people should be told of their faults as soon as it is
|
|
perceived that they begin to be extravagant, lest their hearts be
|
|
hardened. Now concerning the reproof he gave them observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) That it was very just and rational. That which he said was very
|
|
proper.
|
|
|
|
[1.] He tells them that the matter of fact was too plain to be denied
|
|
and too public to be concealed: "<I>I hear of your evil dealings by all
|
|
this people,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is not the surmise of one or two, but the avowed testimony of many;
|
|
all your neighbours cry out shame on you, and bring their complaints to
|
|
me, expecting that I should redress the grievance."
|
|
|
|
[2.] He shows them the bad consequences of it, that they not only
|
|
sinned, but made Israel to sin, and would have the people's sin to
|
|
answer for as well as their own: "You that should turn men from
|
|
iniquity
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+2:6">Mal. ii. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>you make the Lord's people to transgress,</I> and corrupt the nation
|
|
instead of reforming it; you tempt people to go and serve other gods
|
|
when they see the God of Israel so ill served."
|
|
|
|
[3.] He warns them of the danger they brought themselves into by it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
He intimates to them what God afterwards told him, that the
|
|
<I>iniquity</I> would not be <I>purged with sacrifice nor offering,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+3:14"><I>ch.</I> iii. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>If one man sin against another,</I> the judge (that is, the priest,
|
|
who was appointed to be the judge in many cases,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+17:9">Deut. xvii. 9</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>shall judge him,</I> shall undertake his cause, arbitrate the
|
|
matter, and make atonement for the offender; <I>but if a man sin
|
|
against the Lord</I> (that is, if a priest profane the holy things of
|
|
the Lord, if a man that deals with God for others do himself affront
|
|
him) <I>who shall entreat for him?</I> Eli was himself a judge, and had
|
|
often made intercession for transgressors, but, says he, "You that
|
|
<I>sin against the Lord,</I>" that is, "against the law and honour of
|
|
God, in those very things which immediately pertain to him, and by
|
|
which reconciliation is to be made, how can I entreat for you?" Their
|
|
condition was deplorable indeed when their own father could not speak a
|
|
good word for them, nor could have the face to appear as their
|
|
advocate. Sins against the remedy, the atonement itself, are most
|
|
dangerous, <I>treading under foot the blood of the covenant,</I> for
|
|
then there <I>remains no more sacrifice,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+10:26">Heb. x. 26</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) It was too mild and gentle. He should have rebuked them sharply.
|
|
Their crimes deserved sharpness; their temper needed it; the softness
|
|
of his dealing with them would but harden them the more. The
|
|
animadversion was too easy when he said, <I>It is no good report.</I>
|
|
he should have said, "It is a shameful scandalous thing, and not to be
|
|
suffered!" Whether it was because he loved them or because he feared
|
|
them that he dealt thus tenderly with them, it was certainly an
|
|
evidence of his want of zeal for the honour of God and his sanctuary.
|
|
He bound them over to God's judgment, but he should have taken
|
|
cognizance of their crimes himself, as high priest and judge, and have
|
|
restrained and punished them. What he said was right, but it was not
|
|
enough. Note, It is sometimes necessary that we put an edge upon the
|
|
reproofs we give. There are those that must be saved <I>with fear,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:23">Jude 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. Their obstinacy against this reproof. His lenity did not at
|
|
all work upon them: They <I>hearkened not to their father,</I> though
|
|
he was also a judge. They had no regard either to his authority or to
|
|
his affection, which was to them <I>an evident token of perdition;</I>
|
|
it was <I>because the Lord would slay them.</I> They had long hardened
|
|
their hearts, and now God, in a way of righteous judgment, hardened
|
|
their hearts, and seared their consciences, and withheld from them the
|
|
grace they had resisted and forfeited. Note, Those that are deaf to the
|
|
reproofs of wisdom are manifestly marked for ruin. The Lord has
|
|
<I>determined to destroy them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:16">2 Chron. xxv. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+29:1">Prov. xxix. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Immediately upon this, Samuel's tractableness is again mentioned
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
to shame their obstinacy: <I>The child Samuel grew.</I> God's grace is
|
|
his own; he denied it to the sons of the high priest and gave it to the
|
|
child of an obscure country Levite.</P>
|
|
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|
<A NAME="1Sa2_27"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="1Sa2_28"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="1Sa2_29"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Sa2_30"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="1Sa2_31"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="1Sa2_32"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="1Sa2_33"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="1Sa2_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa2_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Sa2_36"> </A>
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|
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<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Eli and His House Threatened.</I></FONT></TD>
|
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1128.</TD></TR>
|
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
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</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
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<FONT SIZE=+1>27 And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him,
|
|
Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, Did I plainly appear unto the house of thy
|
|
father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house?
|
|
28 And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel <I>to be</I>
|
|
my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an
|
|
ephod before me? and did I give unto the house of thy father all
|
|
the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?
|
|
29 Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering,
|
|
which I have commanded <I>in my</I> habitation; and honourest thy sons
|
|
above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the
|
|
offerings of Israel my people?
|
|
30 Wherefore the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of Israel saith, I said indeed <I>that</I>
|
|
thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for
|
|
ever: but now the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> saith, Be it far from me; for them that
|
|
honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be
|
|
lightly esteemed.
|
|
31 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.
|
|
32 And thou shalt see an enemy <I>in my</I> habitation, in all <I>the
|
|
wealth</I> which <I>God</I> shall give Israel: and there shall not be an
|
|
old man in thine house for ever.
|
|
33 And the man of thine, <I>whom</I> I shall not cut off from mine
|
|
altar, <I>shall be</I> to consume thine eyes, and to grieve thine
|
|
heart: and all the increase of thine house shall die in the
|
|
flower of their age.
|
|
34 And this <I>shall be</I> a sign unto thee, that shall come upon
|
|
thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas; in one day they shall die
|
|
both of them.
|
|
35 And I will raise me up a faithful priest, <I>that</I> shall do
|
|
according to <I>that</I> which <I>is</I> in mine heart and in my mind: and
|
|
I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine
|
|
anointed for ever.
|
|
36 And it shall come to pass, <I>that</I> every one that is left in
|
|
thine house shall come <I>and</I> crouch to him for a piece of silver
|
|
and a morsel of bread, and shall say, Put me, I pray thee, into
|
|
one of the priests' offices, that I may eat a piece of bread.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Eli reproved his sons too gently, and did not threaten them as he
|
|
should, and therefore God sent a prophet to him to reprove him sharply,
|
|
and to threaten him, because, by his indulgence of them, he had
|
|
strengthened their hands in their wickedness. If good men be wanting in
|
|
their duty, and by their carelessness and remissness contribute any
|
|
thing to the sin of sinners, they must expect both to hear of it and to
|
|
smart for it. Eli's family was now nearer to God than all <I>the
|
|
families of the earth, and therefore he will punish them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:2">Amos iii. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
The message is sent to Eli himself, because God would bring him to
|
|
repentance and save him; not to his sons, whom he had determined to
|
|
destroy. And it might have been a means of awakening him to do his duty
|
|
at last, and so to have prevented the judgment, but we do not find it
|
|
had any great effect upon him. The message this prophet delivers from
|
|
God is very close.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. He reminds him of the great things God had done for the house of his
|
|
fathers and for his family. He appeared to Aaron in Egypt
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+4:27">Exod. iv. 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
in the house of bondage, as a token of further favour which he designed
|
|
for him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
He advanced him to the priesthood, entailed it upon his family, and
|
|
thereby dignified it above any of the families of Israel. He entrusted
|
|
him with honourable work, to offer on God's altar, <I>to burn
|
|
incense,</I> and to wear that ephod in which was the breast-plate of
|
|
judgment. He settled upon him an honourable maintenance, a share out of
|
|
<I>all the offerings made by fire,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
What could he have done more for them, to engage them to be faithful to
|
|
him? Note, The distinguishing favours we have received from God,
|
|
especially those of the spiritual priesthood, are great aggravations of
|
|
sin, and will be remembered against us in the day of account, if we
|
|
profane our crown and betray our trusts,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:6,2Sa+12:7,8">Deut. xxxii. 6; 2 Sam. xii. 7, 8</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He exhibits a high charge against him and his family. His children
|
|
did wickedly, and he connived at it, and thereby involved himself in
|
|
the guilt; the indictment therefore runs against them all,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. His sons had impiously profaned the holy things of God: "<I>You
|
|
kick at my sacrifice which I have commanded;</I> not only trample upon
|
|
the institution as a mean thing, but spurn at it as a thing you hate to
|
|
be tied up to." They did the utmost despite imaginable to the offerings
|
|
of the Lord when they committed all that outrage and rapine about them
|
|
that we read of, and violently plundered the pots on which, in effect,
|
|
<I>Holiness to the Lord</I> was written
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+14:20">Zech. xiv. 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
and took that fat to themselves which God had appointed to be burnt on
|
|
his altar.
|
|
|
|
2. Eli had bolstered them up in it, by not punishing their insolence
|
|
and impiety: "Thou for thy part <I>honourest thy sons above me,</I>"
|
|
that is, "thou hadst rather see my offerings disgraced by their
|
|
profanation of them than see thy sons disgraced by a legal censure upon
|
|
them for so doing, which ought to have been inflicted, even to
|
|
suspension and deprivation <I>ab officio et beneficio--of their office
|
|
and its emoluments.</I>" Those that allow and countenance their
|
|
children in any evil way, and do not use their authority to restrain
|
|
and punish them, do in effect <I>honour them more than God,</I> being
|
|
more tender of their reputation than of his glory and more desirous to
|
|
humour them than to honour him.
|
|
|
|
3. They had all shared in the gains of the sacrilege. It is to be
|
|
feared that Eli himself, though he disliked and reproved the abuses
|
|
they committed, yet did not forbear to eat of the roast meat they
|
|
sacrilegiously got,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
He was a <I>fat heavy man</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+4:18"><I>ch.</I> iv. 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
and therefore it is charged upon the whole family (though Hophni and
|
|
Phinehas were principally guilty), <I>You make yourselves fat with the
|
|
chief of all the offerings.</I> God gave them sufficient to feed them,
|
|
but that would not suffice; they made themselves fat, and served their
|
|
lusts with that which God was to be served with. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+4:8">Hos. iv. 8</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He declares the cutting off of the entail of the high priesthood
|
|
from his family
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>The Lord God of Israel,</I> who is jealous for his own honour and
|
|
Israel's, says, and lets thee know it, that thy commission is revoked
|
|
and superseded." <I>I said, indeed, that thy house, and the house of
|
|
thy father</I> Ithamar (for from that younger son of Aaron Eli
|
|
descended), <I>should walk before me for ever.</I> Upon what occasion
|
|
the dignity of the high priesthood was transferred from the family of
|
|
Eleazar to that of Ithamar does not appear; but it seems this had been
|
|
done, and Eli stood fair to have that honour perpetuated to his
|
|
posterity. But observe, the promise carried its own condition along
|
|
with it: <I>They shall walk before me forever,</I> that is, "they shall
|
|
have the honour, provided they faithfully do the service." <I>Walking
|
|
before God</I> is the great condition of the covenant,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+17:1">Gen. xvii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let them set me before their face, and I will set them before my face
|
|
continually
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+41:12">Ps. xli. 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
otherwise not. But now the Lord says, <I>Be it far from me.</I> "Now
|
|
that you cast me off you can expect no other than that I should cast
|
|
you off; you will not walk before me as you should, and therefore you
|
|
shall not." Such wicked and abusive servants God will discard, and turn
|
|
out of his service. Some think there is a further reach in this recall
|
|
of the grant, and that it was not only to be fulfilled shortly in the
|
|
deposing of the posterity of Eli, when Zadok, who descended from
|
|
Eleazar, was put in Abiathar's room, but it was to have its complete
|
|
accomplishment at length in the total abolition of the Levitical
|
|
priesthood by the priesthood of Christ.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. He gives a good reason for this revocation, taken from a settled
|
|
and standing rule of God's government, according to which all must
|
|
expect to be dealt with (like that by which Cain was tried,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+4:7">Gen. iv. 7</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Those that honour me I will honour, and those that despise me shall
|
|
be lightly esteemed.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Observe in general,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That God is the fountain of honour and dishonour; he can exalt the
|
|
meanest and put contempt upon the greatest.
|
|
|
|
(2.) As we deal with God we must expect to be dealt with by him, and
|
|
yet more favourably than we deserve. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+18:25,26">Ps. xviii. 25, 26</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Particularly,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Be it spoken, to the everlasting reputation of religion or of
|
|
serious godliness, that it gives honour to God and puts honour upon
|
|
men. By it we seek and serve the glory of God, and he will be
|
|
behind-hand with none that do so, but here and hereafter will secure
|
|
their glory. The way to be truly great is to be truly good. If we
|
|
humble and deny ourselves in any thing to honour God, and have a single
|
|
eye to him in it, we may depend upon this promise, he will put the best
|
|
honour upon us. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+12:26">John xii. 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Be it spoken, to the everlasting reproach of impiety or
|
|
profaneness, that this does dishonour to God (despises the greatest and
|
|
best of beings, whom angels adore) and will bring dishonour upon men,
|
|
for those that do so shall be lightly esteemed; not only God will
|
|
lightly esteem them (that perhaps they will not regard, as those that
|
|
honour him value his honour, of whom therefore it is said, <I>I will
|
|
honour them</I>), but they shall be lightly esteemed by all the world;
|
|
the very honour they are proud of shall be laid in the dust; they shall
|
|
see themselves despised by all mankind, their names a reproach; when
|
|
they are gone, their memory shall rot, and, when they rise again, it
|
|
shall be to everlasting shame and contempt. The dishonour which their
|
|
impotent malice puts upon God and his omnipotent justice will return
|
|
upon their own heads,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:12">Ps. lxxix. 12</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. He foretels the particular judgments which should come upon his
|
|
family, to its perpetual ignominy. A curse should be entailed upon his
|
|
posterity, and a terrible curse it is, and shows how jealous God is in
|
|
the matters of his worship and how ill he takes it when those who are
|
|
bound by their character and profession to preserve and advance the
|
|
interests of his glory are false to their trust, and betray them. If
|
|
God's ministers be vicious and profane, <I>of how much sorer punishment
|
|
will they be thought worthy,</I> here and for ever, than other sinners!
|
|
Let such read the doom here passed on Eli's house, and tremble. It is
|
|
threatened,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. That their power should be broken
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will cut off thy arm, and the arm of thy father's house.</I> They
|
|
should be stripped of all their authority, should be deposed, and have
|
|
no influence upon the people as they had had. God <I>would make them
|
|
contemptible and base.</I> See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+2:8,9">Mal. ii. 8, 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
The sons had abused their power to oppress the people and encroach upon
|
|
their rights, and the father had not used his power, as he ought to
|
|
have done, to restrain and punish them, and therefore it was justly
|
|
threatened that the arm should be cut off which was not stretched out
|
|
as it should have been.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. That their lives should be shortened. He was himself an old man; but
|
|
instead of using the wisdom, gravity, experience, and authority of his
|
|
age, for the service of God and the support of religion, he had
|
|
suffered the infirmities of age to make him more cool and remiss in his
|
|
duty, and therefore it is here threatened that none of his posterity
|
|
should live to be old,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:31,32"><I>v.</I> 31, 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is twice spoken: "<I>There shall not be an old man in thy house for
|
|
ever;</I>" and again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>),
|
|
|
|
"<I>All the increase of thy house,</I> from generation to generation,
|
|
<I>shall die in the flower of their age,</I> when they are in the midst
|
|
of the years of their service," so that though the family should not be
|
|
extinct, yet it should never be considerable, nor should any member of
|
|
it come to be eminent in his day. Bishop Patrick relates, out of some
|
|
of the Jewish writers, that long after this, there being a family in
|
|
Jerusalem none of which commonly lived above eighteen years, upon
|
|
search it was found that they descended from the house of Eli, on which
|
|
this sentence was passed.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. That all their comforts should be embittered.
|
|
|
|
(1.) The comfort they had in the sanctuary, in its wealth and
|
|
prosperity: <I>Thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation.</I> This was
|
|
fulfilled in the Philistines' invasions and the mischiefs they did to
|
|
Israel, by which the country was impoverished
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+13:19"><I>ch.</I> xiii. 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
and no doubt the priests' incomes were thereby very much impaired. The
|
|
captivity of the ark was such an act of hostility committed upon God's
|
|
habitation as broke Eli's heart. As it is a blessing to a family to see
|
|
<I>peace upon Israel</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+128:5,6">Ps. cxxviii. 5, 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
so the contrary is a sore judgment upon a family, especially a family
|
|
of priests.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The comfort of their children: "<I>The man of thine whom I shall
|
|
not cut off by an untimely death</I> shall live to be a blot and burden
|
|
to the family, a scandal and vexation to his relations; he shall be to
|
|
<I>consume thy eyes</I> and <I>grieve thy heart,</I> for his
|
|
foolishness or his sickliness, his wickedness or his poverty." Grief
|
|
for a dead child is great, but for a bad child often greater.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. That their substance should be wasted and they should be reduced to
|
|
extreme poverty
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>He that is left</I> alive <I>in thy house</I> shall have little joy
|
|
of his life, for want of a livelihood; he shall come and crouch to the
|
|
succeeding family for a subsistence."
|
|
|
|
(1.) He shall beg for the smallest alms--<I>a piece of silver</I> (and
|
|
the word signifies the <I>least</I> piece) and <I>a morsel of
|
|
bread.</I> See how this answered the sin. Eli's sons must have the best
|
|
pieces of flesh, but their sons will be glad of <I>a morsel of
|
|
bread.</I> Note, Want is the just punishment of wantonness. Those who
|
|
could not be content without dainties and varieties are brought, they
|
|
or theirs, to want necessaries, and the Lord is righteous in thus
|
|
visiting them.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He shall beg for the meanest office: <I>Put me into somewhat
|
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belonging to the priesthood</I> (as it is in the original); <I>make me
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as one of the hired servants,</I> the fittest place for a prodigal.
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Plenty and power are forfeited when they are abused. They should not be
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able to pretend to any good preferment, not to any place at the altar,
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but should petition for some poor employment, be the work ever so hard
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and the wages ever so small, so they might but get bread. This, it is
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probable, was fully accomplished when Abiathar, who was of Eli's race,
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was deposed by Solomon for treason, and he and his turned out of office
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in the temple
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+2:26,27">1 Kings ii. 26, 27</A>),
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by which it is easy to think his posterity were reduced to the
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extremities here described.</P>
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<P>
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5. That God would shortly begin to execute these judgments in the death
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of Hophni and Phinehas, the sad tidings of which Eli himself should
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live to hear: <I>This shall be a sign to thee,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>.
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When thou hearest it, say, "Now the word of God begins to operate; here
|
|
is one threatening fulfilled, from which I infer that all the rest will
|
|
be fulfilled in their order." Hophni and Phinehas had many a time
|
|
sinned together, and it is here foretold that they should die together
|
|
both in one day. Bind these tares in a bundle for the fire. This was
|
|
fulfilled,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+4:11"><I>ch.</I> iv. 11</A>.</P>
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<P>
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VI. In the midst of all these threatenings against the house of Eli,
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here is mercy promised to Israel
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>):
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<I>I will raise me up a faithful priest.</I>
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|
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1. This was fulfilled in Zadoc, of the family of Eleazar, who came into
|
|
Abiathar's place in the beginning of Solomon's reign, and was faithful
|
|
to his trust; and the high priests were of his posterity as long as the
|
|
Levitical priesthood continued. Note, The wickedness of ministers,
|
|
though it destroy themselves, yet it shall not destroy the ministry.
|
|
How bad soever the officers are, the office shall continue always to
|
|
the end of the world. If some betray their trust, yet others shall be
|
|
raised up that will be true to it. God's work shall never fall to the
|
|
ground for want of hands to carry it on. The high priest is here said
|
|
to <I>walk before God's anointed</I> (that is, David and his seed)
|
|
because he wore the breast-plate of judgment, which he was to consult,
|
|
not in common cases, but for the king, in the affairs of state. Note,
|
|
Notwithstanding the degeneracy we see and lament in many families, God
|
|
will secure to himself a succession. If some grow worse than their
|
|
ancestors, others, to balance that, shall grow better.
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2. It has its full accomplishment in the priesthood of Christ, that
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|
merciful and faithful high priest whom God raised up when the Levitical
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priesthood was thrown off, who in all things did his father's mind, and
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for whom God will build a sure house, build it on a rock, so that the
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gates of hell cannot prevail against it.</P>
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